Ten patients died after a fire broke out in the trauma care unit of a government hospital in the eastern Indian state of Odisha early on Monday, officials said.
The blaze started in the trauma care intensive care unit (ICU) of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack city at around 02:30 local time (21:00 GMT Sunday), according to authorities.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said all those who died were patients receiving treatment in the unit, says the BBC.
He added that 11 members of the hospital staff were injured while trying to rescue patients and are now receiving treatment for burn injuries.
Officials suspect the fire may have been triggered by an electrical short circuit, although the exact cause is yet to be confirmed.
Fire service personnel were dispatched to the hospital shortly after the blaze began and managed to bring the fire under control, authorities said.
Patients from the affected wards were quickly shifted to other departments within the same hospital as emergency teams worked to contain the situation.
SCB Medical College and Hospital are among the largest government-run medical facilities in Odisha and serve a large number of patients from across the region.
After visiting the hospital, Chief Minister Majhi told reporters that the fire damaged the trauma care ICU as well as an adjoining intensive care unit and nearby wards.
He said hospital staff and security personnel had taken significant risks during the rescue operation.
Majhi said several of them were injured while attempting to evacuate patients from the affected units and that the government had instructed authorities to ensure proper medical treatment for those hurt.
The state government has announced financial assistance for the families of the victims. Majhi said he had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and that strict action would be taken if anyone was found responsible for the fire.
Hospital fires are reported periodically in India, often linked to electrical faults. Medical facilities are considered particularly vulnerable because they house extensive electrical equipment, oxygen supply systems and critically ill patients who have difficulty evacuating quickly during emergencies.
Similar incidents in recent years have raised concerns about fire safety in hospitals. In October last year, six critically ill patients died after a fire broke out in an ICU in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.
In 2024, at least 10 newborn babies were killed when a fire engulfed the neonatal intensive care unit of a medical college in Jhansi in northern India.
In another incident in 2021, a fire in the ICU of Vijay Vallabh Hospital in the western city of Virar killed 13 patients who were undergoing treatment for Covid-19.
That same year, another blaze in a newborn care unit in Bhandara district in the western state of Maharashtra killed 10 infants.
Investigations into Monday’s incident in Cuttack are under way as authorities seek to determine the precise cause of the fire and assess safety measures at the hospital.
