At least 18 coronavirus patients died in Gujarat on Saturday after a fire broke out at a hospital in Bharuch city, PTI reported. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

The incident took place at the Welfare Hospital, a designated Covid facility, situated on the Bharuch-Jambusar highway, around 190 km from the state capital Ahmedabad.

The fire broke out on the ground floor and was extinguished in an hour. Fifty other patients were rescued by hospital workers and firefighters. They were shifted to nearby hospitals.

“As per information at 6.30 am, the death toll in the tragedy stood at 18,” Bharuch Superintendent of Police Rajendrasinh Chudasama told PTI. “The 12 patients in the Covid-19 ward died due to the fire and resultant smoke.” It was not clear if the remaining six also died in the fire at the hospital or while being shifted to other facilities.

On April 23, a fire in an intensive care unit killed 13 Covid-19 patients in the Virar area on the outskirts of Mumbai.