10 killed in blaze at COVID 19 care facility in Vijayawada
20 patients suffer burns; CM announces ₹50 lakh each to kin of deceased
Ten patients died and another 20 suffered burns after a fire broke out at a private COVID19 care centre in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, early on Sunday. The fire broke out around 5 a.m. on the ground and first floors of Hotel Swarna Palace, which was leased by Ramesh Hospitals as a COVID care centre. There are about 40 rooms in the hotel, and patients were undergoing treatment in 30. Director General of Disaster Response and Fire Services Department Md. Ahsan Raza said one patient was charred to death and nine had died of asphyxiation. Three women were among the victims. “According to available information, 30 patients and 10 hospital staff were in the hotelturnedquarantine centre. The police, the NDRF and fire services personnel rescued 28 patients, and shifted 10 bodies to the Government General Hospital mortuary. The particulars of two patients are not known,” said Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu. One person working at the hotel suffered severe injuries after he jumped out a window on the first floor to escape the blaze. A criminal case under Sections 304 (2) and 308 of IPC has been registered against the managements of Hotel Swarna Palace and Ramesh Hospitals. The State government set up two committees to conduct a probe into the exact cause of the fire and other lapses that led to the tragedy. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced ex gratia of ₹50 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. The State government said negligence on the part of the hospital management in running the Covid centre in the hotel since midJuly had been prima facie established. On August 6, in a similar incident, eight COVID19 patients were killed in a fire at Shrey Hospital in Gu
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