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Published : 12 Jun 2026, 11:51 AM
Firefighters have brought a blaze at the 17-storey Khulna City Medical College Hospital under control after a more than two-hour battle that forced the evacuation of patients and sparked panic among relatives.
However, no casualties were reported.
After the fire was brought under control at wee hours on Friday, patients were taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital and other government and private hospitals, said Khulna Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Director Md Masud Sardar.
Even on Friday morning, a crowd of eager people and relatives of the patients was seen at this hospital at Moylapota More of Sonadanga Police Station in the city.
Some of them came to inquire about the patient, while others came to see the overall situation.
For Naznin Nahar, the fire left behind a night of uncertainty.
Arriving from Satkhira Sadar with her son in the early hours, she said her brother-in-law had been undergoing treatment at the hospital when the blaze broke out.
Repeated calls to him and accompanying family members yielded no response, their phones remaining switched off throughout the night.
By morning, the family was still searching for information on which hospital he had been moved to.
Three students studying at a private university in the city were seen searching for their mobile phones outside the main gate of the hospital.
They said that the phone was lost during the rescue operation at night.
Fire Service officer Masud said that the fire broke out on the ground floor of the 17-story hospital building at 9:35 pm.
After receiving the information, the Fire Service, along with other agencies and the public, brought the fire under control around midnight.
After the fire broke out, patients and relatives were trapped on different floors of the hospital.
Panic spread throughout the hospital as the smoke from the fire spread. Patients, relatives and people around were scared.
At that time, many people who were in the hospital managed to get down with the help of rescue workers.
Many others went up to the upper floors of the hospital building in fear.
Masud Sardar said that the fire probably started in the basement of the hospital.
The cause and extent of the damage will be determined after further information is available.
Hospital Director Dr Rafiqul Haque Bablu suspects the fire may have started from an electrical substation.
However, he did not know how many patients were in the hospital or how many were taken out and moved elsewhere.
Khulna Deputy Commissioner Ms Hoore Jannat, along with leaders of various political parties and representatives of social organisations, visited the scene at night.
