Jaipur hospital fire: Victims' relatives protest outside SMS Hospital, allege negligence by staff

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 6 : The relatives of the victims of the fire incident at the ICU of the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur protested against the hospital administration and the State government, alleging negligence by hospital staff.
As six patients lost their lives in the tragic incident, people gathered outside the hospital, sloganeering against the hospital administration and the BJP government in the State.
One of the protestors alleged that the hospital staff was negligent when informed about the short circuit at the ICU.
"The hospital staff was informed about the short circuit, but they did not listen to us. People have lost their loved ones due to the hospital administration's negligence. If there was no negligence, people would not have lost their lives," he told ANI.
Earlier, the relatives of patients admitted to the ICU recounted harrowing experiences as smoke engulfed the ward, exposing critical lapses in safety measures.
Puran Singh, a relative of a patient, said, "When there was a spark, there was a cylinder beside it. The smoke spread throughout the ICU, causing everyone to flee in panic. Some managed to rescue their own patients, but mine was left alone in the room. As the gas spread further, they shut the gates."
The relatives of the victims also claimed a lack of equipment to douse the fire.
"There was a fire in the ICU, and I didn't even know. I had come downstairs to have dinner at the time. There wasn't even any equipment to douse the fire--no facilities were available. My mother was admitted there," Narendra Singh said.
While the cause of the fire, prima facie, is being attributed to a short circuit, the Rajasthan government on Monday constituted a six-member committee to investigate the fire that broke out in the Trauma ICU of the hospital, claiming six lives.
The committee will be chaired by Iqbal Khan, Commissioner of the Medical Department, and includes Mukesh Kumar Meena, Additional Director of Hospital Administration in Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES), Chandan Singh Meena, Chief Engineer, RajMES; Ajay Mathur, Chief Engineer, Electrical in PWD; RK Jain, Additional Principal, SMS Medical College, and Chief Fire Officer, Jaipur Municipal Corporation.