Maharashtra is already reeling under a severe man-made pandemic but is also inviting the wrath of the almighty it seems thus increasing the misery that is already existing at a large proportion in the state. After last year's fire at a Covid Center in Mumbai's Dream Mall claiming 9 lives, a similar unfortunate incident took place again just north of Mumbai in Virar.

On Friday early morning at about 3:15 AM a fire broke out due to a short circuit in the AC unit of Vijay Vallabh Hospital. Disaster control cell chief Vivekanand Kadam confirmed an explosion in the AC unit of the ICU which preceded the fire. Firefighters rushed to the spot and managed to control it within an hour but it was only extinguished completely by 5:20 AM.

Visuals showed distressing images of smoke-filled ICU, ceiling falling onto the floor, furniture and other pieces of equipment destroyed and anxious relatives waiting outside for their loved ones.

Official statement from the hospital:

By god's grace, the fire remained confined to the second floor ICU of the total 4 floored hospital thus limiting the casualties. There were a total of 90 patients in the hospital with 18 being in ICU and unfortunately 13 of them lost their lives in this horrific accident. The dead included 5 women and 8 men with the good news being that 5 were saved and successfully shifted to other hospitals. Heart-wrenching news is that the dead patients could not be identified as they were charred beyond recognition.

The relatives of the deceased demanded stringent action against the hospital and one hopes justice is delivered quickly to the departed souls. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray ordered an investigation into the matter.

"This is a big accident. Those found responsible won't be spared. The government will provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakhs each to the families of those who lost their lives," said state minister Eknath Shinde.

PM Modi too issued a statement, with the PMO annocining a ex-gratia amount of 50,000 to the seriously injured and 2 lakhs to the kin of the deceased from PMNRF.

Though it will be unfair to put pressure on the already stressed adminsitration but they have serious questions to answer when the dust of this pandemic settles down and normalcy returns. This is the third fire incident in a hospital located in Maharashtra within a year. The government had enough time before the second wave to check the fire safety audits of hospitals . If they had done the same maybe innocent lives would not have been lost.