'Smoke everywhere, couldn't open emergency door'; Victim's brother about Kozhikode hospital smoke incident

KOZHIKODE: Meppadi native Nazira, who was undergoing treatment in the emergency department at the Medical College, died in the fire incident in Kozhikode Medical College yesterday. According to her brother Yusuf Ali, Nazira died only after being removed from the ventilator support.

The emergency door was locked, which required it to be kicked open, and Nazira was brought out. She was transferred from the ICU and received treatment only half an hour later, Yusuf Ali told a media outlet.

"I was standing in front of the ICU. Suddenly, I heard an explosion. As the smoke rose, I saw doctors and nurses running amok and busy transferring patients to other rooms. Not a single security guard was seen at the scene. My sister, who was on a ventilator, was kept in the yard without even the help of a ventilator until the ambulance arrived.

Her pulse dropped while being taken to another hospital. There was so much smoke in the hospital that it felt pertinent to move the patients to another hospital," said Yusuf.

Smoke rose from the UPS room adjacent to the Medical College Emergency Department at around 8 p.m. last night. A short circuit in the UPS room is said to have caused the fire. More than 200 patients were transferred from the Medical College to other government and private hospitals yesterday.

The entire emergency department block has been evacuated. Superintendent Sreejayan said that the situation at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital is under control.