The Fire Service has brought a fire at the Shishu Hospital in Dhaka’s Agargaon under control after about an hour of effort.
No casualties were reported, but the incident led to widespread panic among patients and their relatives. Many evacuated the building.
The fire started around 1:47am and was brought under control around 2:39pm, said Fire Service spokesman Talha Bin Jashim.
The fire started on the fourth floor Cardiac Department at the hospital.
Three units from the Mohammadpur Fire Station went to the scene when the fire was reported. A unit from Siddiquebazar and another from Tejgaon joined in to help bring the blaze under control.
The Fire Service Control Room was unable to immediately confirm how the fire had started or the extent of the damage.
Anxiety spread among the patients and their relatives when the fire broke out. Many left the building with their sick children.
“People are rushing about trying to escape the fire,” said Sajeda Akhtar Rima, a woman who posted a video of the incident on Facebook. “There was crying all around as people tried to protect their loved ones. Everyone dropped everything to try and save their lives.”
Hospital Director Dr Jahangir Alam said, “A fire started on the B Block’s fourth floor, but it is now under control. Each floor on the B Block has an ICU. There was an ICU where the fire started. We moved our patients. We have made arrangements for them elsewhere.”
All the patients and their relatives in the ICU were moved to safety, said Lt Commander Tanbinur Rahman of the Navy, who participated in the firefighting efforts.
Mohammadpur Fire Station Senior Station Officer Md Fakhruddin said that, upon reaching the hospital at 1:55pm, firefighters found that multiple pieces of equipment, including the air conditioner in the ICU unit of the Cardiac Department were on fire. They evacuated patients and several other people from the location before they started extinguishing the fire.
When asked how the fire started, he said, “Initially, we believe the fire started from an AC in the ICU. But we will still investigate the matter.”
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