As many as 19 people have been confirmed dead after a major broke out in the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital in Bhubaneswar. The figure has been confirmed by Aditya Padhi Chief Secretary of Odisha. Authorities have launched rescue operations soon after the fire broke out. The cause of the fire has been blamed on an electrical short-circuit, but there is no official confirmation yet. The fire reportedly broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital and, as most of these patients cannot move on their own, the hospital authorities have deployed all available manpower to shift them as fast as possible without disturbing them too much. The critical nature of their ailments requires careful handling and according to reports, the authorities are maintaining that. As many as 7 fire brigade teams have been rushed to the hospital and they have spread out to douse the fire before it engulfs the entire hospital. At the moment reports are indicating that most wings of the hospital are safe, but there is a grave threat of it spreading if it is not handled properly.

A visitor, Jyoti Prakash described the desperate situation he faced at the ICU thus, “I jumped down from the first floor where my father is being treated. I do not know what happened to my father and other patients.”

According to some reports, the fire may well have originated in the dialysis ward on the first floor and spread quickly from there, including the ICU, which is on the same on the same floor.


The four-storey hospital building has over 500 in-door patients.

Apart from the seven fire tenders pressed into service to control the blaze, over a dozen ambulances have been deployed to shift the critical patients to other hospitals.


Most of those who have died have perished from suffocation rather than the fire itself.


Also, some died due to the power failure which switched off all the life saving equipment in the ICU.  In the meantime Union Health Minister JP Nadda have spoken to Director, AIIMS Bhubaneswar to provide all necessary support and help the patients in the best way possible.