A major fire broke out on the first floor of Metro Heart Institute in Noida’s sector-12, on Thursday afternoon.

Sixty-six patients were inside the hospital when the fire broke out at around 12.10 p.m. The second, third, and fourth floors were the most affected. No casualties or injuries were reported. Thirty-five patients who were on the second floor during the incident were shifted to a nearby multispecialty hospital run by the Metro group.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. Six fire tenders rushed to the location and managed to douse the fire.

Parmananda, an eye witness, blamed the hospital for the fire accident, claiming that the fire alarm system had been out of order. He had rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard about the fire when he noted that doctors and senior staff at the hospital were the first to escape. “Junior staff and guards stayed back to help patients,” he added.

Meanwhile, the hospital authorities claimed that the fire alarm system was working. “All fire safety measures are in place in the hospital. We evacuated everyone as soon as we could. There is no clarity on the cause of the fire,” said hospital chairperson Purshotam Lal.

Ramvati, whose husband Ramveer was a patient at the hospital, said they were on the fourth floor when the fire broke out. “We saw smoke on the floor and were asked to move to the third floor quickly. There we broke the windows, threw our bags outside and ran downstairs,” she said, adding that she has lost her sandals during the rush. “Police and firemen were very helpful and brought us to safety. Otherwise, a person like me would have died,” she said.

The DM of Gautam Buddha Nagar, BN Singh, said a magisterial enquiry will be set up to investigate whether the hospital had acquired fire clearances and also to determine the cause of fire. “Fire safety and preparedness in other hospitals will also be checked in view of the incident,” he added.