KARACHI: An inquiry committee investigating the reasons of the most recent fire at the Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad has uncovered various breaches in hospital operations that resulted in the tragic loss of multiple lives as well as substantial damage to the facility’s emergency department.
Seven hospital personnel were seriously burned when a fire broke out on February 11. Four of them, including two paramedics, died, while two others are still being treated at a private hospital.
The commission established by Sindh’s director general of health services discovered that the hospital lacked a firefighting system and that the emergency block had been without gas supply for years.
The committee’s report, which Dawn has a copy of, stated that the fire could have been caused by a short circuit of electricity although no blast had happened.
“It came out that Mr Mahesh (sanitation worker) connected in the phone charger along with turned on the toggle switch resulting in an electrical spark followed by unexpected eruption of flames which quickly propagated in the space and beyond, leading to significant harm and fatalities to the staff members working inside the room,” the report said.
Identifies multiple ‘lapses’ after four individuals died in a fire at the health center, Ten days ago.
Upon inspecting the area, the committee discovered that the compressor of the fridge remained intact, and no additional trace of the blast was discovered.
The committee also discovered a non-functioning gas line. “In truth, the whole area where the accident occurred had been without gas supply for years. The Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd. inspection team affirmed this as well.
The committee members also noted that the emergency building lacked an adequate electrical supply system. “The electric supply to the hospital fails an adequate number of electric circuit breakers and no fighting fires mechanism is set up in the entire hospital to avert any such situation,” according to the report.
The committee’s suggestions included establishing a robust firefighting system across the hospital, including procedures for staff instruction and drills on fire safety, inspecting electric wiring, especially circuit breakers as well as gas pipes, and removing the bird market opposite the hospital.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
