Chennai: Three patients, including, two women, undergoing treatment at the Intensive Medical Care Unit (IMCU), died of suffocation following a major fire at the state-run Kilpauk Medical College Hospital here on Saturday.
Police sources told UNI that the fire broke out from one of the two split air conditioners installed at the IMCU due to an electric short circuit.
In all eight patients were undergoing treatment at the IMCU, located in the ground floor of the hospital when the fire broke out.
While three of them died due to suffocation, five others, including a fourth year MBBS student Malathi, studying in the same college, were shifted to various wards as they too inhaled toxic gas that emanated from the AC unit.
Though no major damage was caused by the fire, except for damaging one or two beds and some furnitures, the patients suffered breathing problems due to suffocation as the smoke engulfed the IMCU.
Even as the duty ward boy, Vinod and duty doctor Dr Baradwaj acted swiftly to shift the patients to other wards, three of them died due to suffocation.
They were identified as Tamil Arasi (48) from Poonamallee, Krishna Bai (72) from Erukkenchery in North Chennai and Nandagopal (51) from Ambattur. (UNI)
