Mumbai: A fire broke out at a mall in Mumbai’s Bhandup in the early hours of Friday. The incident led to the evacuation of 76 patients from a Covid-19 care hospital inside the building. It was initially reported that two people died in the incident, however, the hospital later clarified that “there were two dead bodies (due to Covid) which were evacuated” and “there was no casualty due to fire”.

At least 30 patients were shifted into Mulund Jumbo centre, a Covid-19 treatment facility, while the others were admitted in different hospitals. The non-Covid patients were shifted to Fortis Hospital. The fire, which was classified as ‘Level 4’, broke out on the first floor of Dreams Mall, a three-storey building, a little after midnight. Sunrise Hospital is located on the third floor. The hospital said its fire alarms were set off by the smoke, following which all patients were evacuated from the building to a fire refuge area. The cause of fire is yet to ascertained, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said. After visiting the incident site, he added that a detailed probe would be carried out to ascertain the cause of the incident.

“This is very serious situation. First time I have seen a hospital in a mall. Civic body will conduct investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire and action will be taken accordingly,” Pednekar said. As many as 14 fire engines and 10 jumbo water tankers were pressed into action after the fire was reported.

Meanwhile, Mumbai’s civic body BMC is investigating the matter. The fire comes in the wake of a surge of Covid-19 cases in the city. Mumbai reported 5,504 cases on Thursday and 14 deaths, taking the total number of positive cases in the city to 3,80,146 and toll to 11,623. Due to the rising cases, BMC has planned to increase the bed capacity in hospitals from the current 13,773 to 21,000 in the next 15 days besides scaling up testing. Maharashtra reported 35,952 cases on the same day, and 111 deaths. The state’s caseload is 26 lakh, and toll is 53,795.

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