A horrific fire at Corona unit
The death of five patients in a fire that broke out at the Corona Isolation Unit of the city's United Hospital Wednesday night is an appalling tragedy. According to the hospital authorities, the fire might have originated from an electric short circuit at the unit which was built temporarily outside the main hospital building, and spread immediately as it was windy outside due to inclement weather. Although the fire was doused within 40 minutes, according to fire service officials, unfortunately the lives of the five patients getting treatment there could not be saved.
Now, the questions that naturally arise are: were the fire and the subsequent deaths of the patients a result of negligence? Did the hospital authorities take proper safety measures when giving electric connection to the Corona ward which is a makeshift structure? Why were the partitions and ceiling of the unit built with "inflammable materials", ignoring the risk of catching a fire? Also, since the hospital has its own fire extinguishing system (according to their statement), why couldn't they take any action to douse the fire before the fire service team arrived? Did the authorities try to rescue the patients with Covid-19 symptoms from the isolation unit when they noticed the fire in the first place? Moreover, why did they keep date-expired fire extinguishers at the hospital, as revealed by the Dhaka North City Corporation mayor yesterday? The hospital authorities must be made to answer these questions.
Since a probe committee has been formed by the Fire Service and Civil Defence authority to investigate the incident, we hope the actual reasons for the fire will be revealed soon. We also hope that it will be a fair investigation without any obstruction from any quarter and that the hospital authorities will not hide any information regarding the fire. And if found guilty of negligence, action should be taken against the hospital authorities according to our law. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased.
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