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Panic as Shishu Hospital catches fire
Hospital lacks fire safety measures, says FSCD
Daily Sun Report, Dhaka
Published: 20 Apr 2024
A distraught couple with their child rush out of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute when a fire breaks out in its Cardiac Intensive Care Unit on Friday. Inset: Law enforcers and officials visit the ICU, the equipment and beds of which were severely damaged by the fire. Photo: Reaz Ahmed Sumon
A fire erupted at the Dhaka Shishu Hospital in the capital on Friday afternoon, causing panic and forcing the evacuation of patients.
Hospital sources said the blaze originated in the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) in Block B on the fourth floor around 1:45pm, causing damage to the medical equipment.
However, no casualties were reported in the fire, which was brought under control after an hour.
Hospital Director Dr Jahangir Alam said every Block B floor has an ICU unit and the fire originated on the 4th floor.
He said they evacuated the patients and made arrangements for them elsewhere.
Senior Station Officer of Mohammadpur Fire Station Md Fakhruddin said the fire might have originated from an air-conditioner in an ICU room.
He said multiple pieces of equipment, including ACs, in the ICU unit were gutted by the fire.
Fakhruddin also said the hospital lacks firefighting tools, including fire hydrants, for which the fire could not be doused quickly.
Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) Directorate officials said three units from the Mohammadpur Fire Station went to the scene when the fire was reported.
A unit from Siddique Bazar and another from Tejgaon joined later and they together brought the blaze under control around 2:39pm.
Insiders said there were rooms for storing cardiac devices inside the cardiac cath and cardiac ICU rooms.
Wishing anonymity, a physician working in the ICU said, “The devices were purchased at Tk10 crore from a fund granted by the prime minister. The procurement was riddled with irregularities. A vested quarter might be behind the fire to erase the evidence of their crime.”
Meanwhile, the hospital authorities formed a five-member probe committee to look into the fire.
The committee has been asked to submit a report within three days, Dr Jahangir Alam said in a press briefing in the afternoon.
The committee is led by the CICU department head. Other members include a maintenance engineer, an electrical engineer, a ward master, a nurse and a fire service representative.
Dr Jahangir said, “Now our main focus is to resume services. If our own technical team, electric engineers, DPDC and Fire Service give us the nod after checking the building, we can start working from the ground floor.”