Gujarat- 18 coronavirus patients passed away due to a fire at the Welfare Hospital at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday. The fire broke out due to a short circuit at the COVID treatment ward. There were approximately 50 other patients at the hospital, who were rescued by locals and firefighters. The Welfare Hospital, dedicated to treating COVID patients is located on the Baruch-Jambusar highway, 190 kilometers away from Ahmedabad. 12 fire brigades and almost 40 ambulances were immediately sent to the scene, and the fire was doused within an hour. The surviving patients were transferred to Bharuch Civil Hospital, Sevashram Hospital, Gujarat Hospital, and the Al-Mahmood General Hospital. Read more
There are visuals of this tragic incident that have circulated on various social media platforms which shows the remains of some patients on beds and stretchers.
"As per information at 6.30 am, the death count in the tragedy stood at 18. Immediately after the fire, we had confirmation of 12 deaths," said Rajendrasinh Chudasama, a senior police officer in Bharuch.
It is not confirmed whether the remaining six patients died in the Welfare Hospital or on the way to other hospitals for treatment. Read more
More than 14,000 new cases were recorded in Gujarat in the last 24 hours, taking the Gujarat tally up to a total of 5,67,777.
Meanwhile, India on Friday for the first time recorded over 4 lakh cases of the novel coronavirus in a new record global high taking the total tally of caseload to 1.91 crores. 3,523 cases of COVID-19 induced fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total death toll in the country to 2.11 lakhs. The active COVID-19 cases in the country now amount to 32.63 lakh. India reported more than 3 lakh COVID-19 cases daily for the ninth day in a row, making it the second-worst COVID-19 affected country in the world after the United States.