Fire Grips Kolkata’s Calcutta Medical College and Hospital; Second incident in 3 months

Kolkata: Panic gripped Kolkata on Monday morning after a fire broke out in the premier state-run Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. The incident took place in the laboratory of the Hematology department which is located on the third floor of the building.

A private security guard noticed thick smoke billowing out at 5 am and alerted the hospital staff. Subsequently, the local police station and fire department were alerted and the fire was brought under control. Preliminary inquiry revealed that short circuit from a refrigerator in the laboratory was the reason behind the fire.

There were no patients on the third floor and no casualties have been reported.

There was adequate fire-fighting system in place as the MCH building of the hospital was recently renovated and this is why fire was brought under controlled soon after it broke out.

This is the second such incident in the same hospital in three months. On October 3, a major fire in the Pharmacy department had forced the hospital staff to evacuate the building. About 250 patients admitted on the second and third floor of the building were shifted to the annex building then.