13 COVID patients dead in Maharashtra hospital fire

MUMBAI: At least 13 coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit died in a fire at Vijay Vallabh COVID hospital in Virar West on Friday morning.

The Hospital is about 70 kilometres south of the state capital Mumbai.

According to the sources, the fire started in the hospital's ICU ward, where 17 patients were admitted. The fire, which started at 3.15 a.m. today, is thought to have been triggered by a short circuit.

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At the time of the incident around 90 patients were admitted at the hospital.

According to the sources, other patients will be transferred to other hospitals.

The incident occurs just one day after 22 people died in Nashik, Maharashtra, due to a lack of oxygen after an oxygen tanker exploded outside Dr. Zakir Hussain Hospital.

Maharashtra fights the second wave of the coronavirus, which has resulted in an alarming increase in infections.

The number of daily coronavirus cases in India reached a new high on Thursday, with the country reporting over 3.14 lakh new infections, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,59,30,965.

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