2020 Vijayawada fire

On 9 August 2020, a major fire broke out in early morning hours (around 5am IST) at a COVID-19 facility located at the Hotel Swarna Palace in the city of Vijayawada, in the state of Andhra Pradesh.[1] The fire blaze killed 11 people and wounded a further 22.[2][3] The hotel was used as a temporary COVID-19 facility as it was leased out by the private hospital Ramesh Hospitals Vijayawada for the purpose of treating infected COVID-19 patients.[4] An electrical short-circuit was described as the ultimate reason for the incident.[5] The fire had been brought under control by the firefighters within a space of 30 minutes. The patients who survived from the fire blaze were transferred to another quarantine centre.

2020 Vijayawada fire
Date9 August 2020 (2020-08-09)
LocationVijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
CauseElectrical short-circuit in air conditioner
Deaths11
Non-fatal injuries22

Background

India has recorded numerous cases related to fire accidents in the history mainly due to lack of safety facilities and inadequate fire extinguishers. The Visakhapatnam gas leak, the Delhi factory fire, and the Delhi hotel fire were the country's worst fire accidents in the recent times. India is currently the third worst affected country in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fire incident has posed further burden and humiliation to the healthcare sector impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Incident

The fire blaze erupted at the Vijayawada coronavirus hotel facility killing around 11 COVID-19 patients, injuring 22 others.[6][7] The fire broke out initially in the first floor and second floor before spreading quickly to third and fifth floors. It was reported that two patients who were panickingly rushed, screamed for help and jumped from the hotel terrace to escape from the blaze.[8] Nine patients died due to suffocation caused by fire blaze and one reportedly died succumbing to burn injuries.[9] There were a total of about 30 patients being treated for COVID-19 along with ten hospital staff prior to the incident.

Development

Ramesh Hospitals Vijayawada branch had Memorandum of understanding agreement with the Swarna Palace Hotel to run and maintain a COVID-19 centre on a lease basis. It was revealed that the COVID-19 centre was opened in the Swarna Palace on 9 August 2020 and on the same day itself a fire broke out due to electrical defects.[10] A FIR was also filed against both the Ramesh Hospitals and the Swarna Palace for the possible acknowledgment regarding the electrical defects before establishing the COVID-19 centre.[11] Vijayawada COVID-19 hotel facility was later blamed for violating fire safety norms and measures.[12]

Response

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced a relief package compensation of five million rupees for the affected families.[13][14] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his deep condolences regarding the tragic incident and tweeted that he was anguished by the terrible incident.[15]

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References
  1. "Deadly fire at coronavirus facility in south India". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. "Fire at Indian Covid facility kills at least 10". BBC News. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. Reuters (9 August 2020). "Blaze Kills at Least 10 in Indian Coronavirus Centre". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. "10 Dead In Fire At Hotel Used As Covid Care Facility In Andhra". NDTV.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. ANI. "Cause of Vijayawada hotel fire appears to be short circuit, says preliminary report". BW Businessworld. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. "10 dead in fire at coronavirus facility in Vijayawada hotel". The Indian Express. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. Aug 9, Srikanth Aluri / TNN / Updated:; 2020; Ist, 18:44. "Vijayawada Fire Accident Today: 11 killed in fire at Vijayawada hotel used as Covid facility | Vijayawada News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. Srinivas, Rajulapudi (9 August 2020). "Vijayawada fire | Patients jumped off second floor to escape from building". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. Srinivas, Rajulapudi (9 August 2020). "Vijayawada fire | 10 dead in private COVID-19 care centre blaze, CM announces ex gratia". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. Aug 9, U. Sudhakar Reddy / TNN / Updated:; 2020; Ist, 14:32. "Vijayawada fire: Police file FIR against Ramesh Hospital and Swarna Palace hotel | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. "Andhra Pradesh: FIR registered in Vijayawada fire incident". Hindustan Times. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. "Vijayawada Covid-19 hotel facility violated fire safety norms: Official". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. correspondent, dc (9 August 2020). "Swarna Palace hotel has no NOC, firefighting systems were not working: Officials". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  14. "COVID-19 LIVE | Punjab reports 24 more deaths; 987 new cases take tally to 23,903". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  15. "PM Modi 'anguished' by fire at hotel being used as Covid-19 facility in Vijayawada". Hindustan Times. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

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