Fire at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital child ward brought under control

A fire that broke out at the child ward on the sixth floor of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital’s new building this afternoon was brought under control within an hour.

The cause of the incident could not be known immediately, and no casualties were reported, said Dr Md Zakiul Islam, deputy director of the hospital.

All patients from different wards of the building were evacuated hurriedly, he said.

A senior staff nurse on the fifth floor said that when the fire broke out around 4:40pm, they had been handling dialysis of 15 kidney patients.

“After making their safe passage, we left the ward,” said the nurse.

Purna Chandra Mutsuddy, deputy director of Mymensingh Fire Service and Civil Defence, said eight units from Mymensingh and Trishal rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control within an hour.

However, the cause of the incident could not be known immediately, she added.

Many patients, mostly from distant areas, were seen waiting on the hospital premises to return to their wards.

Abdul Hye, a 70-year-old patient from Melandah upazila of Jamalpur, was admitted to the third floor of the hospital with urinary complications. Soon after the fire broke out, he was taken out of the ward and had been staying on the hospital premises.

“I don’t know when I can return to my ward. It is also difficult for me to return home without completing the treatment,” lamented Abdul Hye.

Another patient, 70-year-old Hajera Khatun from Nakla in Sherpur, was taken out of the ward on the seventh floor soon after the incident. Suruj Ali, Hajera’s son-in-law, said they had been at the hospital for several days and were still waiting to return to the ward.

Expressing anger, Siddhartha Sarker, attendant of another female stroke patient, alleged that the hospital authorities had not made any announcement about when patients could return to their wards.

In the prevailing cold weather, the situation would cause further suffering for patients and their attendants, said Siddhartha from Netrakona.