3 Muz hospital officials held in ICU fire case, toll rises to 6

Patna: A day after a fire swept through the ICU of a private hospital in Muzaffarpur, killing six patients, police arrested three hospital officials on Friday.

Those arrested include the doctor in charge of the intensive care unit (ICU), the hospital’s maintenance head and the administration head, Muzaffarpur City SP Mohibullah Ansari said. He said the investigation was continuing and further action would follow based on findings.

Ansari said investigators were awaiting reports to cross-check multiple factors behind the alleged lapses, including if safety audits were conducted properly, the presence of any structural flaws in the hospital building, and whether the ICU on the fifth floor had the required safety arrangements.

“We will be seeing if the fire audit was done or not and if the document given was the right one or tampered with. If these things are found wrong, then even the owner will be arrested,” he said.

A district administration official said a five-member probe committee visited the hospital on Friday and questioned staff, attendants and eyewitnesses. The committee was constituted soon after the incident to investigate the circumstances leading to the fire and compliance with safety norms.

The fire broke out in the ICU of Prasad Hospital in Muzaffarpur in the wee hours of Thursday. Five people died in the incident, officials said. Another patient died in the early hours of Friday in Patna while undergoing treatment, taking the total toll to six.

At the time of the fire, 27 critically ill patients were admitted in the ICU on the hospital’s fifth floor. The same floor also housed a cardiac care unit, officials said. Rescue and evacuation efforts were undertaken after the fire was reported, and several patients were shifted.

Authorities said the probe would focus on fire safety clearances, documentation submitted for compliance, and whether mandatory audits were conducted and recorded accurately. Investigators are also examining whether the ICU and associated critical care areas had functional fire prevention and response systems in place.

Officials said accountability would be fixed after the completion of the inquiry and receipt of the relevant technical and administrative reports.