Fire at private hospital in Agra claims lives of 3

AGRA: Three people died after a fire broke out at a private hospital operating from the ground floor of a residential building in Shahganj area of Agra on Wednesday morning. The dead include the building owner Rajendra Singh (45), his daughter Shalu (17) and son Rishi (14), said police, adding that a short circuit is believed to have caused the fire around 5.30am.

While the patients and staff were safely moved out of R Madhuraj Hospital on time, the building owner and his family got trapped on the first floor, where they lived.

Superintendent of police, city, Vikas Kumar said, "The hospital had six beds, and the fire broke out in the storeroom. Three people, including the owner of the building and his two children, died. The wife and elder daughter of Rajendra are undergoing treatment at SM Medical College."

"A forensic department team was called to the mishap site, and it collected samples to find out the cause of the fire," the SP said.

CM Yogi Adityanath expressed his condolences and directed the district magistrate and police officials to rush to the spot and ensure relief work and proper treatment for the injured. CMO AK Srivastava visited the hospital and said Rajendra was not a doctor but was the owner of the premises and lived on the first floor of the building. The hospital is registered in the name of one Dr Ishu Verma, the CMO added.

There were four patients, and one of them was admitted on Tuesday night. Three of them went back home while the fourth one was taken to SNMC on Wednesday. "An enquiry is being conducted to find out the registration details of the hospital," said the CMO, adding that the three died due to suffocation.

According to locals, the staff of the hospital ran out of the building after the fire broke out. Rajendra also rushed out, but he went inside again to rescue his wife and children. The fire brigade came 45 minutes after the fire broke out, said locals.