Jaipur hospital blaze claims 6 lives, relatives accuse staff of fleeing

At least six patients lost their lives after a fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit of the trauma centre at Jaipur’s state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital on Sunday night.

Families have alleged that hospital staff fled shortly after the blaze, which is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit on the second floor of the building.

The fire spread rapidly through the ICU, filling the area with smoke and creating panic among patients and their relatives. Essential ICU equipment, documents, blood sample tubes, and other materials were gutted by the flames. At the time, the trauma centre housed 210 patients across four ICUs, with 40 patients in each ICU. Reports indicate that only one staff member was present in each ICU during the night, and they allegedly left soon after the fire started.

Hospital staff and patient attendants managed to evacuate patients, even carrying some to their beds outside the building. Firefighters brought the blaze under control within approximately two hours.

According to Trauma Centre In-Charge Anurag Dhakad, the second floor contained two ICUs—a trauma ICU with 11 patients and a semi-ICU with 13 patients. He stated, “A short circuit occurred in the trauma ICU, and the fire spread rapidly, releasing toxic gases. Most of the patients in the trauma ICU were comatose and critically ill.”

Six patients, including two women and four men, succumbed to the fire despite prolonged CPR, while five others remain in critical condition.

Following the incident, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, and Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham visited the hospital. Families of some victims alleged that staff abandoned patients during the fire and that they were not being informed about the condition of their loved ones. One family member said, “We noticed smoke and immediately alerted the staff, but they didn’t pay attention. When the fire broke out, they were the first to run. Now, no one is telling us anything about our patients’ condition.”

Another relative told ANI, “The ICU caught fire, but there was no equipment to extinguish it, no fire extinguishers, no cylinders, not even water to douse the flames. There were no facilities at all. My mother didn’t survive.”

Authorities have begun investigating the incident, while hospital staff and emergency teams continue to manage the aftermath and provide care to the surviving critically ill patients.