Cancer patient dies after major blaze at Sealdah ESI Hospital

KOLKATA: A fire broke out at Sealdah's ESI Hospital early Friday, possibly from an air-conditioning unit, forcing the evacuation of 91 patients at the 254-bed hospital in Kolkata, report Dwaipayan Ghosh & Subhojyoti Kanjilal. A terminally ill colon cancer patient passed away during the evacuation process, but it is not yet clear whether it was due to the blaze. Some doctors felt that he may have experienced a panic attack.

It took a dozen fire tenders around two-and-a-half hours to douse the flames, detected shortly after 5am. An additional seven hours were needed for the cooling process to conclude before electricity could be restored.

Kin of Uttam Barman , the patient who died, alleged that he was asphyxiated. Hospital authorities and police, however, said they were awaiting the postmortem report to determine if the death was due to cancer or inhalation of toxic smoke.

Hospital superintendent Aditi Das said the company contracted since 2022 to install and operate the fire extinguishing system hasn't completed work even after two years.