8 coronavirus patients killed in Ahmedabad hospital fire

At least eight Covid-19 patients were killed when a fire swept through a private hospital in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad in the wee hours of today.

The victims include five men and three women who were undergoing treatment at the ICU ward of the Covid-19 designated Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura locality, reports our New Delhi correspondent, quoting an official of Ahmedabad Fire Department.

The blaze erupted around 3:30am local time; the cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately, he said.

Around 40 other Covid-19 patients at the hospital were rescued and shifted to a civic hospital in the Gujarat state's biggest city.

With 1,073 new coronavirus positive cases in the last 24 hours, Gujarat's total coronavirus tally has gone up to 66,777 on Wednesday and the death toll rose to 2,557.