HYDERABAD: Two women and their newborn babies, another patient and 19 hospital staff were rescued from the burning first floor of Srivani Hospital in Saleem Nagar, Malakpet, early on Saturday.
The fire broke out at 7.24 am due to a short circuit, a fire official said. The official said fire personnel reached the spot within five minutes of getting information and evacuated the first floor of the building.
“Our team simultaneously managed to switch off the main transformer and another transformer in the surrounding area. Our firefighters managed to rescue the patients, though it took two hours to control the fire,” said J. Govardhan Reddy, station fire officer (SFO), Malakpet fire station.
Malakpet sub-inspector Chalikanti Suresh said the newborns along with their mothers and another patient are safe and had been shifted to another hospital in the adjacent lane.
Sources in the fire department said there was a short circuit in a panelboard on the first floor of the in-patient block. The building had no fire safety norms. As the building was shorter than 15 metres, it fell in the GHMC jurisdiction to take legal action against the hospital management. The fire department could take action only if the building was taller than 15 metres, sources said.
“We suspect that a short circuit sparked the fire and a case has been registered. The concerned local electricity officials are also investigating the case.,” said SI Suresh, investigation officer.
