Burdwan: A Covid-19 elderly patient was killed after a fire broke out at Burdwan Medical College and a hospital in West Bengal on Saturday morning, officials said.
The deceased, Sandhya Mondal (60), was treated in a Covid hospital ward, where the fire erupted around 4.30 in the morning, they said.
Another patient in the ward was moved safely to another wing, the hospital source said.
The hospital authority poured fire before the firefighting personnel arrived, said the source.
The relatives of Mondal claimed that he had asked for help when the fire suddenly broke, but no one came to save him.
The five member team has been formed to investigate the cause of the fire, said the supervisor of Tapas Kumar Ghosh Hospital.
Meanwhile, opposition leader at the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari accused that hospitals in the country have turned into a trap of death for patients, and demanded a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
“The request of the WB Minister of Health on the safety and welfare of patients treated at the government hospital is proven from the fact that the emergency incidence of fire has become a general incident.
The hospital as if the ‘House of Lac’ has become a death trap for unprofitable patients (SIC) , “Nandigram MLA tweeted.
He also demanded RS 50 lakh compensation for the next relatives of the deceased.
Reacting to Adhikari’s statement, the Trinamool MP Sougata Roy congress said the state government had provided an increase in health care to people, who lacked during the previous government of government in the state.
“BJP must explain what happened at the Covid Hospital in the countries ruled by it.
Burdwan’s incident was very unfortunate, but the Safron party should not politicize,” Roy added.