Fire Service and Civil Defence on Thursday said an extension of the isolation unit for Covid-19 patients at the United Hospital in the city was 'very risky.' Five patients at the Coronavirus isolation unit of the hospital died on Wednesday night following a fire incident.
The fire had quickly engulfed the structure as the materials used for its construction and the hand sanitizers kept inside were highly flammable, the police said.
Three units of the Fire Service doused the flames within half an hour, but not before the four-room structure was completely burned down. The dead included four men and a woman.
Five patients -- Riyajul Alam, 45, Khodeja Begum, 70, Varun Anthony Paul, 74, Md Monir Hossain, 75 and Md Mahabub, 50 -- who were admitted there, died in the fire, hospital authorities said in a statement.
The hospital authorities said the fire might have originated from a short circuit and quickly spread as the evening was windy.
Debashis Bardhan, Deputy Director (Dhaka Div) of Fire Service and Civil Defence said, "The isolation unit has been built on a temporary basis and the patients were kept there in a risky condition."
The Fire Service has formed a four-member panel to investigate the fire that burned down the isolation unit and killed five patients at the United Hospital in Dhaka.
"It was very risky. The patients died under a sunshade at the centre," he said. When the fire broke out, the victims could not get out, he added.
Debashish Vardhan, will lead the team. The other members of the committee are Babul Chakraborty, Niaz Ahmed and Md Abul Kalam Azad.
The committee has been asked to submit the probe report as soon as possible, Abul Kalam Azad said. The tent-like unit outside the main building of the private facility in Gulshan caught fire around 10:00pm on Wednesday.
Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam also visited the spot and told journalists that eight out of 11 fire extinguishers at the hospital were date-expired.
"People get admitted to hospital to recover from disease. It is extremely painful that they died in a fire incident at the hospital," he said. The Mayor urged the authorities of all hospitals to ensure fire safety.
"People come to the hospital seeking recovery from sicknesses but here they died in a fire," said the Mayor.
"This is really unfortunate. I would request the authorities of all hospitals to attach necessary importance to fire safety."
The official came up with the observations while visiting the hospital in Dhaka on Thursday. There was an extension built with a tin shed and its partitions was built with some partex-like material which is highly flammable, he added.
Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, Deputy Commissioner of Gulshan zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said among them, three had tested positive for the novel coronavirus while the results of the two others returned negative.
A case was filed in connection with the death of the five patients on Thursday.
Maj (Retd) Moinul Hussain, Manager (Admin) of United Hospital, filed a UD (unnatural death) case with Gulshan Police Station, said Sub Inspector Sinthia, Duty Officer of the police station.
