Three choke to death in ICU fire at KMC

CHENNAI: Three of the eight patients admitted to the Intensive Medical Care Unit (IMCU) of the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) died of asphyxiation after the ward was filled with dense smoke from a fire that broke out due to the malfunctioning of an air conditioning unit in the early hours of Saturday.Though Fire and Rescue Service personnel, with the assistance of doctors and hospital staff, quickly shifted the patients out, an asthma patient N Krishna Bai (72) of Kodungaiyur and M Tamilarasi (45) of Poonamallee perished. The third victim, Nandagopal (55) of Ambattur, died in the afternoon and the condition of five other patients was stable.According to M Manikandan (34), son of Tamilarasi, no one noticed the fire but when his mother had difficulty in breathing, the doctor was called and he smelled something burning. “Within two minutes, the entire room was filled with smoke and the families of patients near the door came out gasping for air,”  he told Express.Personnel of the Kilpauk fire station, opposite the hospital, responded instantly. Villivakkam fire station officer K Abdul Rahim said they received a call at 5.10 am and attended to the fire “within minutes” as they evacuated the patients from the unit. Investigating officer Inspector S Muthukumar also added that they evacuated close to a hundred patients from the paediatric ward and nephrology unit in the same building.Hospital ignored multiple warningsSources in the Fire and Rescue Department said that inspection of the hospital revealed poor maintenance of electric cables and lack of a hose roll system to extinguish fires. “We have sent written communication to the hospital, to upgrade their fire safety measures and look into re-wiring electric cables,” said a senior officer.“In the last one month, around 10 minor fire sparks occurred due to the power leak from the electricity cable,” said a police officer.