A fire broke out at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) in Shima, Himachal Pradesh, on Thursday after two cooking gas cylinders exploded in the cafeteria. Around 250 people were evacuated from the new OPD building, officials said. However, no casualty was reported.
The two blasts took place in quick succession, triggering panic, among those present during the incident. Billows of smoke were visible from far away.
The blasts occurred when Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) services had just started. Within 15-20 minutes, about 250 people, including patients, were evacuated with the help of hospital staff and others, IGMCH Senior Medical Superintendent Rahul Rao was quoted by PTI as saying.
"We received a call at 8:50 am and six fire tenders from The Mall Road, Chotta Shimla and Boileauganj were rushed to the spot and the fire was stopped from spreading," a fire official said.
OPD services have been shifted to the old building for now as four chambers of doctors, the cafeteria and three lifts were damaged in the fire. According to a preliminary estimate, the loss is over Rs 60 lakh, PTI reported.
"Fire extinguishers and other equipment were available in the newly constructed building and these were used to stop the fire from spreading, till the fire tenders arrived," health officials said.
The new multi-storey OPD block, constructed at a cost of Rs 30.90 crore, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on March 9 last.
The building houses an emergency unit, intensive care unit, special wards, isolation ward and physiotherapy ward, as well as computerised tomography scan, X-ray, sample collection and pathology lab facilities, the report said.
(With inputs from PTI)
First Published: Apr 27, 2023 3:41 PM IST
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