DMCH fire: 3 Covid-19 patients die after being shifted from ICU
Photo: Amran Hossain
Three patients died after they were shifted from Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) — dedicated for Covid-19 patients — during a fire incident this morning.
The patients breathed their last when they were taken to the hospital’s CCU from the ICU, Inspector Bachchu Miah, in-charge of the DMCH police camp, confirmed to The Daily Star.
The deceased — PDB Engineer Kazi Golam Mostafa (66) from Chandpur, Kishore Chandra Roy (70) of Tangail and madrasa teacher Abdullah Al Mahmud (48) of Manikganj — were on life support.
DMCH Director Brig Gen Nazmul Haque said the fire broke out at the ICU on the third floor of DMCH’s new building.
All the patients were transferred from the ICU after the fire broke out. But the three patients who were on life support died while undergoing treatment at the CCU later, the DMCH director said.
The ICU has been badly damaged by the fire. It will take time to resume operations at the ICU, said Brig Gen Nazmul.
The fire might have been originated from a high-flow nasal cannula machine in the ICU, said DMCH Deputy Director Alauddin Al-Azad.
DMCH authorities formed a committee to investigate the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report within seven working days.
The fire broke out around 8:10am and caused dense smoke inside the ICU. Three units of firefighters rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 8:55am, said Kamrul Hasan, duty officer at Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters.
A total of 14 patients were inside the ICU facility, the official also said.
Soon after the fire, the ICU and post CCU have been closed.
Daily Star
