Normalcy returns to 14 SSMCH wards after fire: Zahid

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said normalcy came back to 14 wards out of the total 16 wards of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (SSMCH) after last night’s deadly blaze.

“Normalcy returned to 14 wards of SSMCH out of its total 16 wards and patients are getting treatment after it caught fire last night,” the health minister told a press briefing at his city’s Baridhara residence this morning, reports BSS.

A total of 1200 patients were managed to evacuate from the hospital safely during fire and shifted them to different hospitals in the capital, he said, adding “of those, 385 patients had been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital”.

He also expressed his satisfaction that no one was injured in the fire incident, blaming a short circuit at a store room of the SSMCH at around 5.50pm for the fire.

The health minister said 17 firefighters units brought the blaze under control after 8pm last night.

“I rushed to the place of the occurrence direct from the parliament and was there all time. Home and Disaster Management ministers also visited the place. We already informed the matter to Prime Minister, who is now in Germany, and she has given necessary directions,” Zahid Maleque added.

Flanked by Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad, the minister said a seven-member strong committee has already been formed to probe the incident and have been asked to submit their report within three days.

“It was a wakeup call for us. Actually most of our hospitals are old ….We have to modernize the firefighting systems in every hospital and check the age-old electric wiring system,” he added.

Meanwhile, Director of the hospital Dr Uttam Kumer Barua said, of the around 1200 patients, who were shifted to other government hospitals in and around the capital after last night fire, more than 320 have returned to SSMCH by 10.30am today.