Massive Fire at Government Medical College building: Cooperation in the face of adversity saved all!

Tribune News Service

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, May 14

Doctors and patients in the Out Patients’ Department (OPD) and Indoor Patients’ Department (IPD) heard the first blast around 1 pm. However, no one took it seriously as noises due to the construction activity nearby are not unusual.

Got to know about the unfortunate fire incident at the Amritsar hospital. Firefighters are on job to control the blaze. I thank the Almighty that no life was lost. The Power Minister reached the spot … I am also monitoring the situation continuously. Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Chief Minister

However, a few minutes later, they heard another blast and then a third one again. By the time of the fourth blast, everybody came out in the balconies and saw heavy smoke billowing out from the building. The panic had started spreading.

Dr Rakesh Sharma, professor (surgery), who was in the OPD attending patients, said: “At the time of the first blast, I thought some heavy iron shuttering slab has fallen down. A few minutes later, when the news of the fire spread, I rushed to my surgery ward.”

“The patients were panic-stricken. Some of them ready to break the window glasses and even ready to jump,” he said, adding that the first thing he did was to ask the staff to close down all windows and switch off every electrical appliance.

The doctors and patients said the smoke from the building on fire had started suffocating people in the nearby buildings, especially on the upper floors.

‘Got time to act’

With a capacity of 1,000 beds, the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital had a bed occupancy of nearly 70 per cent on Saturday. With patients’ attendants, OPD patients, doctors, paramedics and other employees, over nearly 10,000 people were present in the hospital at the time of the incident. However, swift action and cooperative behaviour saved all those inside the building and not even a single person received a minor burn injury. The officials said they got time to act as the building which caught fire had no patients’ wards on any of its floors. “It is relatively a quieter area. Had the accident occurred in some other area, it would have been fatal,” a senior doctor said.

Patients shifted out in the open by staff, attendants on time

Timely and prompt action by the employees at the Government Medical College here helped avert a major mishap as patients were evacuated to safety immediately after a building block at the hospital caught fire on Saturday. The fire was caused by a blast in an electricity transformer installed near the building. Though the blaze damaged the three-storey building and the medical equipment lying in it, no loss of life or even burn injuries to any of the patients or employees was reported by the college authorities. Patients were shifted to the open area by employees and their attendants. They were seen lying in the parking and in the corridors of the nearby buildings. The college authorities said the building block which caught fire did not have any indoor patient wards. “The patients from the adjoining buildings were evacuated to safety as a precaution. It was a major fire but thankfully it was contained due to the efforts of the employees,” said college Principal Dr Rajiv Devgan. He said efforts were being made to restore the power supply and in the meantime generators were being used. The thick black smoke billowing out from the building accompanied by the sounds of cylinders bursting under pressure and heat caused panic among employees and patients. The onlookers also saved vehicles, mainly two-wheelers parked alongside the building, from catching fire as they dragged these to safety. Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO, who reached the college after the incident, said, “Primarily, it has been found that the oil from the transformer leaked and the fire spread quickly due to high temperature.” He said a detailed investigation would be conducted to ascertain the facts. While lauding the role of hospital employees for timely evacuation of employees from the adjacent building blocks, the minister said if laxity of any employee came to light, action would be taken against the guilty.

First-person account

‘None acted selfish’

I asked help from six persons and we carried my niece along with the mattress to the ground from the second floor. Even though everyone was shocked, none acted selfish. Guru Nanak saved us all. It seems it was due to his blessings that there was no chaos and every single patient was evacuated safely. Amarjeet Singh, an attendant accompanying a female patient

‘I was feeling helpless’

I was out in the market to purchase some goods. When I returned, I saw smoke billowing out and people in panic. I started running as I wanted to reach my mother at the earliest, who was accompanied by my sister. At the ward, everyone was panic-stricken and packing their belongings. I was feeling helpless, as I was thinking how will I shift my mother? Then I saw unknown people coming to our rescue and we carried the mattress, on which my mother was lying, to the ground floor. Harinder Singh, an attendant

‘Comforting words were encouraging’

We started feeling that if not by fire, we will die of suffocation. However, the words of hospital staff were encouraging. When people were in panic, a doctor calmed us down and shouted that he would be the last one to leave the ward. Usually in such circumstances, nobody thinks about others, but maybe it was a lucky day! I will never forget this day ever. The fire was contained on time and if it had spread to other building blocks, it could have been disastrous. Satwant Singh, another attendant

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