On Thursday midnight, 9 patients died after a fire from the mall swept in a COVID care facility in Bhandup. All the patients except one were senior citizens admitted in the Sunrise Hospital. The hospital said that they all were on life-support and died while shifting. 

Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, visited the site and promised to punish those who are guilty and also apologised to the families of victims. He has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to families of each victim.

Officials said that the hospital which is inside the Dreams Mall was first proposed in 2014, however the plan was delayed. In due course, it started operating on a provisional Occupation Certificate that was granted in May 2020 by the BMC, even though the building which contained it had got notices for irregularities in construction and violations of fire safety.

The cause of the fire resulting in deaths has not been determined yet. A fire brigade official said that the flames seemed to spread from the 1st floor of the mall. The fire-fighting operations went on the whole night. The fire-fighting system in the mall and hospital were non-functional and affected their operations.

Also, the basement, 1st and 2nd floors of Dreams Mall did not succeed in getting an ‘all clear’ from the fire department.

Source: ET Healthworld