SHILLONG: A major fire broke out at the Ganesh Das Hospital at Lawmali here on Monday evening after a transformer located near the labour room of the hospital exploded.
As per available information, the transformer exploded around 5 pm resulting in a fire that gutted temporary structures inside the hospital premises and later spread towards the labour room.
No one was injured in the incident.
At the time when the fire broke, there were six patients inside the labour room. The hospital staff immediately shifted the patients to another room.
The hospital authorities were facing a major problem to take stock of the situation since there was no electricity inside the hospital.
Despite these difficulties, the hospital authorities tried their best to ensure that the patients were shifted to a safe place.
Majority of the people who were present on the spot have expressed their reservation over the late arrival of the fire tenders.
The fire tenders reached the hospital almost half-an-hour after the transformers exploded.
“We had informed the fire service immediately after the fire broke out,” the hospital staff informed. The patients and their relatives lauded the doctors and nurses for their quick response in shifting the patients and the new-born babies.
While speaking to reporters, hospital medical superintendent Dr. T. Wahlang said that they have tried their best to ensure that no one was injured in the incident. “We immediately shifted the pregnant mothers and the babies since the fire broke near the labour room,” he said.
Health and Family Welfare Minister A.L. Hek rushed to the spot to assess the situation.
It has been informed that the transformer which exploded was installed way back in 1937. The hospital authority had, on numerous occasions, placed requests for shifting of the transformer outside the hospital, but to no avail.