Prime Minister announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each deceased.
Bhubaneswar, March 16 (Language) At least 10 patients died in a massive fire that broke out in the ICU of Odisha government-run SCB Medical College and Hospital late on Sunday night. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi gave this information. The Chief Minister, who reached the hospital after the incident, said that while taking out the patients safely, about 11 employees of the hospital got burnt. He said that the fire probably started due to short circuit. An official said that the fire broke out between 2.30 am and 3 am and firefighters immediately reached the hospital and started operations to extinguish the fire.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the death of patients in the fire incident and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Disaster Fund (PMNRF). “The accident at a hospital in Cuttack, Odisha is extremely tragic,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a post on X. Deepest condolences to all those who lost their loved ones. The families of each deceased will be given an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF. Rs 50,000 will be given to the injured.” The Prime Minister spoke to Majhi on phone and took stock of the situation.
President Draupadi Murmu and Vice President CP Radhakrishnan expressed grief over the loss of lives in the hospital fire incident and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.
Chief Minister Majhi also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 25 lakh to the family of each deceased. Majhi said that 23 patients were admitted in the Trauma Care Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the adjacent ICU and wards. The Chief Minister said that seven patients died in the fire, while three others died of suffocation. He said the fire broke out in the ICU of the trauma care department of the hospital, where critically ill patients were being treated. Majhi also announced a judicial inquiry into the matter and asked the Director General of Fire Services to investigate the matter and submit the report to him immediately.
He said, “I direct the Director General of the Fire Department to personally visit the SCB Medical College and Hospital and ensure compliance with the fire safety rules.”
Majhi said 11 medical officers risked their lives and took part in the rescue operation and are being treated in a ward of the hospital. He said, “After assuming charge, I had instructed the concerned department to prepare all the medical institutions to deal with the fire situation and I had also directed them to take necessary action in this regard.”
The Chief Minister said that the government has made a provision of Rs 320 crore for this purpose in the annual budget of 2025-26, while a provision of Rs 400 crore has been made in the budget of the coming year (2026-27). He said that the work of installing fire fighting equipment in government medical establishments is going on war footing.
Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati said in a post on The affected patients have been immediately evacuated to safe places and their treatment is continuing uninterrupted. My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected and I wish them a speedy recovery.”
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