Fire breaks out at Niloufer Hospital, Hyderabad; no casualties

People in the surroundings of Niloufer hospital, and those attending on patients, were panic-stricken when fire broke out on the first floor of the hospital’s old building at 4.45 pm on Wednesday.

They all panicked after they saw thick smoke emanating from the biomedical laboratory. The attenders started to vacate the area and alerted other patients in the new block.

Along with security personnel and other staff members, they broke open the lab door and extinguished fire after switching off the main power supply.

“I was busy talking to my mother. I was shocked when I saw thick smoke coming out from the first floor and alerted the security guards,” said Mohammed Mushtaq, a patient’s attendant.

“On rushing to the spot, our firefighters ran to the laboratory and opened the windows,” fire inspector K. Chandrashekar said.

“The printer placed in the lab caught fire, which soon spread to the plastic material and equipment placed close to it. We had to use two smoke exhausters. Our fire fighters and Nampally police dispersed the mob that had gathered close to the lab,” Chandrashekar said.

Luckily there was no one in the lab when the fire broke out.

Nampally police registered a case of fire accident. After preliminary investigation, the police said that a short circuit might have caused the fire.

Adding further, Dr Lalu Prasad Rathod, the pediatric RMO of Niloufer Hospital, said that the cause of the fire was attributed to a short circuit in the wire of a refrigerator located in the old lab. Fortunately, the lab did not house any critical files, data or samples, Dr Rathod said. Deccan Chronicle