Suhrawardy fire a ‘wake-up call’: Health Minister

Health Minister Zahid Malik has described the fire at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital as a “wake-up call” for all hospitals in Bangladesh.

Briefing the media in his residence on Friday, he said: “This is a lesson for us, a wake-up call.

“A lot of our hospitals were established a long time ago. The fire fighting system in these hospitals must be modernised. Hospitals use electrical equipment. These need to be checked as well.”

Patients and their families were gripped by panic after a fire broke out in the Suhrawardy Hospital Thursday evening.

At least 1,200 patients including 10 from the Intensive Care Unit were evacuated and rushed to nearby hospitals as a result. It took firefighters nearly three hours to contain the flames.

A seven-member panel headed by an additional secretary has been formed to look into the incident, said the minister.

The probe team has already started its investigation after a meeting at 10:00am Friday, he added. The team has been given three days to submit a report.

“The hospital resumed operation on Thursday night.  Of the 16 wards, 14 are fully functional and patients are currently receiving treatment there.”

According to Uttam Barua, the director of the four-storey hospital, the fire initially broke out in the children’s ward on the third floor before engulfing the other floors.

But Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, dismissed the hospital’s claims.

He said that the blaze originated in a store room on the hospital’s ground floor before spreading throughout hospital as flames always move upwards.

Authorities will assess the extent of damages inflicted by the blaze on wards and offices in the hospital. Necessary repair works will be carried out soon, added the health minister.