Noida hospital had not renewed fire licence for 5 months, says official; magisterial inquiry ordered
No casualties were reported in the fire that broke out at the Metro Hospitals and Heart Institute in Noida’s Sector 12.
The district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar ordered a magisterial inquiry on Thursday, hours after a major fire broke out at the Metro Hospitals and Heart Institute in Noida’s Sector 12, PTI reported.
“I have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident,” confirmed District Magistrate BN Singh. “The city magistrate has been asked to submit his report within 15 days.”
Gautam Buddh Nagar Chief Fire Officer Arun Kumar Singh said the hospital had been functioning for more than five months without a fire licence. “The hospital authorities had got a licence from the fire department in March 2017, but they did not get it renewed from over five months,” he said.
An unidentified official of the fire department said it will take action against the hospital management for failing to renew the licence. “We will send a report over the lapses on the part of the hospital to the director general for necessary action in the case,” said the official.
No casualties were reported and over 60 people, trapped inside the building when the fire broke out, were rescued. “More than 40 patients have been shifted to Metro’s another hospital,” Singh had said earlier in the day. Singh added that a quick response from firefighters had averted a major tragedy.
Around 10 fire tenders were involved in bringing the fire under control. While some reports said a short-circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire, the Hindustan Times quoted sources as saying that leakage in a gas cylinder sparked the blaze. It has not yet been confirmed.