A fire broke out at Cox's Bazar District Sadar Hospital on Wednesday.
The incident took place at around 6pm in an abandoned room of the ground floor of the hospital.
Upon receiving the news, two units of fire fighters rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.
Hospital Nurse Jayanti Dey said a plume of smoke was seen from an abandoned room on the east side of the hospital.
When the news of the fire spread, the nurses, doctors, patients, their relatives and concerned people left the hospital and started running in different directions.
At that time, a Rohingya patient named Golbahar Begum, 60, died due to lack of oxygen.
More than 20 patients were injured in the incident. Many suspected that the fire was a sabotage move.
Patients were taken out of the hospital due to power cuts. As there was no electricity for hours, the hospital staff struggled to provide treatments to the patients.
The hospital activities returned to normal at around 7pm when electricity came back.
Farid Alom, grandson of the rohingya patient Golbahar Begum, said: “The patients and relatives at the hospital started fleeing upon the news of the fire. At that time, Golbahar was on oxygen support. When she [Golbahar] was taken out of the hospital, her oxygen supply ran out and she died soon after.”
Hospital staff Estafiz said everyone was shocked when the fire suddenly broke out. This caused a frightening atmosphere in the hospital.
Many suspected that the fire was a sabotage move.
Cox's Bazar Civil Surgeon Dr Mahbubur Rahman said: “It is being investigated if anyone started the fire.”
“Hundreds of patients from the five-storey hospital were evacuated immediately after the fire broke out. All of them are being treated at the hospital,” he added.
The fire destroyed extensive equipment of the emergency department of the hospital. In addition, the hospital's blood bank, ECG room and oxygen supply lines were severely damaged.
Md Abdullah, deputy assistant director of Cox's Bazar fire service, said after receiving the news, two units of Cox's Bazar fire service along with two water-carrying vehicles and another unit from Ramu came and put out the fire.