Ahmedabad COVID hospital fire: one arrested

Ahmedabad: The administrator of the private hospital here where eight COVID-19 patients died in a fire last week was arrested on Wednesday on the charge of 'causing death by negligence', a police official said.

Bharat Mahant (57), main administrator of Shrey Hospital, was arrested by officials of Navrangpura police station after he underwent medical test and tested negative for coronavirus, he said.

Mahant, who was at the helm of affairs at the hospital since 1998, will be produced in the court on Thursday, said Assistant Commissioner of Police M A Patel.

A fire broke out on the fourth floor ICU ward of the hospital, which had been authorized to treat coronavirus patients, in the wee hours of August 6. Eight patients died.

On August 10, a First Information Report under IPC section 304 (A) (causing death by negligent or rash act) was registered against Mahant.

The FIR said that while the cause of fire was a short circuit, the patients died due to "lack of ventilation" in the ICU as its four windows had been fixed shut with screws and did not open.

There had been no fire safety audit of the hospital prior to the incident, nor was there any fire alarm system, it said.

Though there were fire extinguishers in the ward, they were not used because the staff had not been given training in fire-fighting, the FIR alleged.

(PTI)