Three patients died while they were being evacuated after a fire broke out at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) dedicated for Covid-19 patients at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Wednesday morning.

The deceased are PDB Engineer Kazi Golam Mostafa, 66, from Chandpur, Kishore Chandra Roy,70, of Tangail and madrasa teacher Abdullah Al Mahmud, 48, of Manikganj. All of them were on life support. 

All the patients were transferred from the ICU after the fire broke out. But the three patients who were on life support died while undergoing treatment at the CCU later, DMCH Director Brig Gen Nazmul Haque said.

The fire originated on the second floor of DMCH’s new building at around 8.10am, said Kamrul Hasan, duty officer at Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters.

Although the fire did not spread much, but the smoke engulfed whole room, he added.

On information, three teams of the fire service rescued the patients from the ICU.

A total of 14 patients were rescued from the ICU facility, the official also said.