Describing the fire at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (SSMCH) as a wake-up call for the authorities, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque has said the electrical wiring and fire fighting systems at all hospitals need to be modernized and checked for faults.
“It was a wakeup call for us. Most of our hospitals are old …We have to modernize the firefighting systems in every hospital and check the age-old electric wiring systems,” he said during a press briefing at his Baridhara residence on Friday morning.
The minister also said 14 out of the total 16 wards at SSMCH had returned to normalcy following Thursday’s blaze, and patients were receiving treatment there.
He expressed satisfaction as no one had been injured in the fire, with 1,200 patients successfully evacuated and transferred to different hospitals in the capital. Among them, 385 patients had been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
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The blaze is believed to have originated from a short circuit in a store room of the hospital around 6pm, according to Zahid Maleque.
The health minister further said 17 fire fighting units brought the fire under control around 8pm on Thursday.
Accompanied by Directorate General of Health Services Director General Dr Abul Kalam Azad, the health minister said a seven-member probe body has already been formed to investigate the SSMCH fire.
Also addressing the press conference, SSMCH Director Dr Uttam Kumer Barua said 320 of the 1,200 evacuated patients returned to the SSMCH for treatment at 10:30am on Friday.
