Endless tragedy in India: hospital with COVID-19 patients caught fire, at least 13 dead

At least 13 people died on Friday following a fire in a hospital for coronavirus patients in the western state of Maharashtra, the Indian region hardest hit by the pandemic. The causes of the incident are not yet known.

The fire started around 3 a.m. local time (9:30 p.m. GMT Thursday) in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Vijay Vallabh Hospital, in the coastal town of Tower, next to the Indian financial capital of Bombay, and was only checked this morning.

“There were 13 deaths. There were 90 patients in our hospital. A fireball raged in the intensive care unit and spread within minutes “the executive director of the hospital told reporters, Dilip shah.

The director of the center pointed out that the incident was “an accident” and that they had installed a fire protection mechanism, without providing further details on the possible causes.

Shortly after the start of the tragedy, groups of people near the hospital attempted to desperately helping various healthcare workers evacuate patients, according to local televisions showed.

“The COVID-19 hospital fire (for patients) in Virar is tragic. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the wounded recover soon “, wrote the Indian Prime Minister on Twitter, Narendra Modi, after knowing the event.

The president announced a compensation of 200,000 rupees (approximately $ 2,600) for the families of the deceasedand 50,000 rupees (approximately $ 660) for the seriously injured.

This incident occurs after last month Another fire in Mumbai at hospital for coronavirus patients will kill at least 10.

The fire this Friday represents another blow to India in its fight against the pandemic in the middle of the second wave, and after new records recorded this Friday, with 332,730 positives and 2,263 deaths per day.

Maharashtra remains the region with the most cases, with 67,013 new cases and 568 deaths on the last day.

With these new positives, the total number of cases in India exceeds 16.2 million, keeping India as the second country with the highest number of infections since the start of the pandemic, only behind the United States (31.9 million).

(With information from EFE)

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