A closed lift catches fire, four emergency staircases are padlocked shut, and thousands of patients are left stranded: a nightmarish scene at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital has exposed a catastrophic breakdown in basic security and maintenance.
The blaze broke out in a shut-down lift on Monday, triggering widespread panic and conflicting reports over human cost.
An intelligence agency report said that six people died in the resulting stampede, though hospital authorities initially claimed four fatalities before later backtracking and denying any deaths altogether.
A site visit following the disaster revealed that four of the five staircases in the new building were firmly padlocked, whilst the vast majority of lifts were broken down, cutting off basic movement between floors.
As the division’s largest medical facility, the hospital serves a vast catchment area including Mymensingh, Netrakona, Gazipur, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, and Sunamganj.
It houses 3,000 to 4,000 inpatients daily and treats a further 4,000 to 5,000 at its outpatient department.
Accompanied by families, daily footfall reaches up to 15,000 people. Yet, much of the infrastructure built to manage this crowd lies completely derelict.
Trapped on upper floors
Patients and relatives reported that only one of the five staircases in the new building is accessible. The remaining four are locked behind iron grill gates across multiple floors, many showing visible signs of rust.
Distressed patients and their families were forced to smash through padlocks and gates to escape as smoke filled the corridors. The intelligence report highlighted that six people were crushed to death as hundreds tried to squeeze through the single open staircase. Despite endless complaints to hospital management, no action had been taken to clear the exit routes prior to the fire.
Chronic mechanical failures
Lift breakdowns are a daily reality in the eight-storey new building. On Tuesday morning, four of its five ground-floor lifts were out of service. Over 100 people, including critically ill patients on trolleys, children hooked to oxygen cylinders, and wheelchair users, were packed tightly in front of the sole operating lift.
Since 2007, a private contractor, Naima Enterprise, has managed the lifts under a lease agreement. The firm faces sharp criticism for persistent maintenance failures.
A lift operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that whilst the government allocates approximately Tk22,000 per staff member monthly, the firm pays him just Tk7,000.
Attempts to reach Naima Enterprise owner Ibrahim Khan for comment went unanswered.
Hospital Assistant Director (Administration) Mohammad Mainuddin Khan defended locking the four staircases, citing security reasons, but confirmed a decision has now been made to reopen them. He insisted that only one of the facility’s seven main lifts was out of service, adding that the fire originated in its control room.
Arnab Biswas, executive engineer of the Public Works Department in Mymensingh, said that Lift 11 had been out of service for a week prior to the incident.
“Although the lift was not operating, its power supply had not been disconnected. Consequently, electrical equipment in the control room remained live,” Biswas explained. “This issue is currently being investigated as the potential cause of the fire.”
Patient agony across wards
Patients in the hospital’s four-storey older complex face identical hurdles. The facility features 15 lifts to move patients from emergency units to wards, operating theatres, intensive care, and pathology departments. However, severe neglect and constant overcrowding leave them broken down for days at a time.
Even when a handful of lifts work, users endure severe overcrowding, long delays, and frequent arguments. Pickpocketing in the crush is common.
The disruption is particularly devastating for patients on stretchers, elderly people, pregnant women, and disabled patients, who are routinely stranded for hours.
Out of desperation, relatives frequently carry critically ill family members up the stairs in their arms.
Non-functional safety systems
The incident has laid bare glaring safety deficiencies. Modern lifts feature an Automatic Rescue Device (ARD), which automatically navigates the cabin to the nearest floor and opens the doors during a power failure. The ARD systems across the hospital’s lifts are entirely non-functional.
Recently, a lift in the new building carrying roughly 25 passengers remained stuck between floors for nearly 30 minutes.
Asma Begum, whose father is currently admitted, said that he had been trapped inside a lift three times in a single week.
A retired secretary-rank government official visiting a relative recounted hearing that a teenage boy trapped in a lift two days prior was forced to sleep inside the cabin overnight because no technician arrived to free him.
Acknowledging the crisis, the hospital deputy director, Zakiul Islam, pointed the finger at the contractor, “Despite our repeated demands to the leasing company, patients and visitors continue to suffer due to their irresponsible attitude.”
