Fifty-eight patients, including nine infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), were safely evacuated after a fire broke out at Asian Hospital in the Akashwani Chowk area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. No casualties have been reported in the Asian Hospital fire.

The fire was reported around 2.20 am on Friday, September 4, with the preliminary information suggesting that a short circuit in an air-conditioning unit in the NICU may have triggered the blaze. The hospital staff alerted the fire brigade and police and began evacuating patients.

Police officials said, “At the time, nine infants were undergoing treatment in the NICU. Hospital staff, fire brigade personnel, and police teams launched a rescue operation and safely evacuated all nine infants.”

“Five were shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GHATI), three to MGM Hospital and one to Sanjeevani Hospital for further treatment,” the officials said.

Five fire tenders reached the hospital, and firefighters brought the blaze under control within 10 to 15 minutes. Personnel from Jawahar Nagar police station, along with RCP personnel, also reached the spot and assisted in the evacuation operations.

“Nearly 30 ambulances were deployed to shift patients to safe locations. At the time of the fire, 58 patients were undergoing treatment on the first floor of the hospital, including nine in the NICU, 36 in the general w,ard and 13 in special rooms,” officials said.

The exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained. Further investigation is underway.