Relatives pay their respects near the pyres of the coronavirus victims, who died from a fire incident that killed thirteen patients at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar on April 23, 2021. (PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP)
MUMBAI – At least 13 COVID-19 patients have been killed after a fire broke out at a private hospital near India's financial capital Mumbai in the early hours of Friday, hospital officials said.
The fire at a private hospital near Mumbai, preceded by an explosion in the air-conditioner unit of the intensive care unit of the hospital, was extinguished by 5:30 am local time, according to a disaster management official
There were altogether 90 patients when the fire took place in the hospital, which is located at Virar, about 74 km north of Mumbai, at about 03:15 am local time.
The surviving patients have been shifted to a nearby healthcare facility.
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The fire, preceded by an explosion in the air-conditioner unit of the intensive care unit of the hospital, was extinguished by 5:30 am local time, according to a disaster management official.
Last month, a fire at a COVID-19 care hospital in Mumbai led to the deaths of nine patients, while earlier this week on Wednesday, low oxygen supply after leakage in the tank led to 29 deaths in a civic-run hospital at Nashik, 167 km away from Mumbai.
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India has been facing a shortage of oxygen supply in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19 wave and so far, has close to 2.3 million active cases with 184,657 deaths.