KM Ashraf, a volunteer in health care, went to the scanning unit on the ground floor of surgical super specialties, accidents and emergency care of the Bloc of the Government Faculty, Kozhikode, around 19:50 on May 2. He wanted to see if it was time to move the patient to the procedure room.
“I heard some knocking sounds from the UPS room opposite the” red area “where people are accepted in a critical state. I have seen mole to the doors of smoke plumes,” he says.
Ashraf and several passers -by hurried to alert doctors and carers. Some of them jumped into action and broke the door. They quickly grabbed the fire extinguishers mounted on the walls and started smoking.
Gasp
“Soon everyone was breathtaking when the thick smoke absorbed the spaces. We also felt burning. We all plunged into the” red area “to evacuate the patients who were to support the fan,” recalls Ashraf.
The seven -storey building with a glass facade in the middle, built under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surraksha Yojana (PMssy), has a victim sorting on the ground floor. There are also a number of operating theaters and intensive care units (ICU). Although the block was opened in 2023, the block was not fully functional. The victim’s section and some theaters have recently been moved to the building. The hospital, which is one of the main institutions for public health care in northern Kerala, provides medical needs of patients from at least five districts.
Intermittent power outages
According to a non -medical employee who was on duty at the time of the incident, there was occasional electricity outages after the rain began before the day. Then one of the batteries in the UPS room connected to the MRI scan unit on the ground floor could burst after suspicion of electricity. It is assumed that one of the batteries could light and later damage all the other 34 in the UPS room.
In no time the area was not absorbed by smoke and the air filled the smell of burnt electric wire and battery. There was panic all around. No one was ready for such eventuality. People were seen as they cover their faces with any piece of fabric that could catch. Some tied handkerchiefs on their faces and several others used facial masks. Another was to see how he removed his shirt to tie her around her face. “There was a haze everywhere and nothing could be seen,” the volunteer recalled.
Carers and people outside the PMSSY Block of the Government Medical University Hospital in Kozhikode 2. May after the building absorbed smoke. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
The smoke, which initially covered the ground floor of the building, later began to spread to the upper floors. Employees of fire and rescue services, volunteers, healthcare professionals, police staff and residents joined the rescue mission. Vrrká sounds of wheelchairs, portable beds and stretchers rents air when patients were taken to the front yard of smoke filled with rooms. Within a few minutes, a war situation appeared outside the building.
Ambulance of sirens
The ambulance of the sirens wrapped over the front backyard because patients in serious condition have been moved to them and taken to safety. “Suddenly someone pointed out the rescuers that there were several patients in the ICU. However, some carers refused to move to safety because the patients were in an intubated state. We explained to them and convinced them to get out as quickly as possible,” says a hospital worker who actively participated in evacuation.
VT Baiju, an occasional Koyilanda worker, accompanied his aunt thank the victim’s department after suffering injuries in a strange accident. “Suddenly, the smoke was filled with the operational department, where the doctor was about to explore my aunt. We managed to slip out of the building through the back door. Later it was moved to a private hospital in an ambulance,” he says. Up to 151 patients were moved to the department in other buildings in the hospital and in some private medical institutions in the city. The fire and rescue staff entered the building after all patients were moved elsewhere, adds another hospital worker.
MLA claims asphyxiacs
Meanwhile, the incident began a controversy with T. Siddique, Kalpetta Mla, claiming that at least three patients, including us, died of the inhabitants of its constituency during the evacuation. It was also accused that the bodies of the five patients who died of the stuck were moved to the morgue.
Yousuf Ali, brother of our NASEERS, claims that patients from the ICU were evacuated after the fan rupture. He also claims that the emergency output door was found locked, which braked the evacuation. “We had to break the nearby glass door to pull out patients,” says Yousuf Ali. He also claims that although Námeera was provided with the support of the fan after being moved to another department, she soon died.
G. Maneesh, West Hill resident in Kozhikod, stood in front of the building when his brother asked him to hurry to the “red area” where his father K. Gopalan was admitted.
“I was told that there was smoke in the block. At first I was wondering if health care employees were fumigating the area to avert mosquitoes,” he says. Maneesh says that nurses and other employees have taken steps to remove his father’s support fan to knock him out of the building. “We almost decided not to be our father anymore. Soon after we pulled him out, the doctor declared him dead. Even if the fan support was not removed, he would have died in an hour. Later we helped evacuate other patients,” he says.
Although the fire was under control until 22:30 until 22:30, the discussion of the death of five patients refused to die and forced the authorities to organize the tests in all cases to find the cause of death.
Maneesh and two of them filed police complaints striving to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of their dear.
A portable fan system
KG SUJEETH KUMAR, director, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, says four of the five patients who died on the day were in critical condition and to support the fan. The fifth patient attempted suicide and was brought dead to the hospital, he says. He claims that the four of the dead were evacuated from the building before the smoke absorbed the area. “It is very unlikely that smoke could enter the lungs,” he says. The director claims that those to support the fan were moved from the building after their connection to a portable fan system. It comes to all other patients in a serious condition.
Preliminary reports on post-Mort research suggest that a heart attack and not asphyxiation was the cause of death in four cases. Hospital authorities are waiting for the results of exploring their internal authorities.
Meanwhile, the accident raised relevant issues regarding emergency readiness in the hospital, which provides the medical needs of hundreds of patients every day.
MK Raghavan, Kozhikode, claims that the government did not bother to name enough employees into the building two years after its inauguration. “There were huge safety outages. Patients of the panic hit did not know how to get out of the building filled with smoke. Some of the composed wall had to be demolished to get from the complex for people and vehicles because there was a difficult rush near the main entrance,” says Raghavan.
Audits of fire safety
Siddique claims that the hospital lacks a separate wing that would deal with concerns about fire and safety. “Audits of fire safety and fire exercise have not yet been held in a new building. The hospital has no proper evacuation plan. There was no fire departure,” he emphasizes.
Sources in fire and rescue services say that the proposal for the establishment of a fire station near the hospital is gathering dust. The nearest fire station is in Veltimadukunn, about 4 km away. The head official at the Ministry says that fire security audits are carried out by designated agencies, as required by hospital authorities. Fire exercises are carried out either by trained staff in hospitals or staff of fire and rescue services. It suggests that the safety staff be trained to use fire hydrants and fire extinguishers, as determined by the National Accreditation Council for Hospitals or the International Organization for Standardization.
Dr. However, Sajeeth Kumar rejects this accusation that soon after smoke was recorded in the building, there was a fire alarm. In the hospital, fire safety audits are regularly performed. The steps are proceeding to view the electrical cabling after the accident. Fire exercises will be carried out early, he says.
When several agencies started the incident on the incident, the same building broke out on the sixth floor of the same building on May 5, bringing further security concerns. This time, patients who were brought back from other departments of the hospital were evacuated from the area.
Raghavan was looking for a probe to see if there was a fall in the building of the building and its electrical cabling. The healthcare department has decided to become a new block with increasing criticism, re -opened a new block only after a comprehensive fire and safety audit, and after the introduction of the required facilities.
Blessed could be under control of control before causing great damage. However, the incident requires better readiness for disasters in hospitals in the public sector healthcare.
“Four out of five patients who died the day were in critical condition and to support the fan. The fifth patient attempted suicide and was brought to the hospital dead.”Kg sujeeth kumar Director, Government Medical College, Kozhikode
Published – May 8, 2025 17:42
