A day after a major fire broke out at its premises, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) administration on Sunday launched a probe into the cause of the disaster even as Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia on Sunday took stock of the situation there.
While stating that hospital area has not been affected and no loss or damage to life has occurred, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that he has directed the AIIMS for conducting a comprehensive special fire audit at the Institute.
"Visited AIIMS where fire incident took place yesterday. Fortunately, no life lost due to swift action taken by AIIMS authorities. Delhi Fire Service personnel worked hard to bring fire under control. Investigations going on to ascertain reasons of fire," Kejriwal tweeted.
The fire, which is suspected to have started around 5 pm on Saturday from the Microbiology department and thick plumes of smoke, billowed from the building, triggering panic and affecting the emergency services from the microbiology laboratory area, had affected some laboratories and office areas.
"The hospital area has not been affected by the fire and there has been no casualty. As a precautionary measure, the AIIMS administration had shifted patients from AB wing of the hospital to other areas of the hospital. These patients have been shifted back to their respective wards in the AB wing," said a statement from the AIIMS here.
The hospital authorities said that emergency department and laboratories was fully functional on Sunday and all patients, who were shifted out as a precautionary measure, were taken back to their respective wards.
"AIIMS has a regular fire prevention system. There are fire personnel deployed round-the-clock with fire fighting safety systems being regularly tested including clearance of fire exits and corridors," , said the statement.
Meanwhile, AIIMS Director also held a meeting with the heads of the departments and administrative staff to review the hospital patient care services. "It was decided that outpatient (OPD) and emergency services will continue to run normally. Operation theatres (OTs) will be functional and the scheduled surgeries will be performed. A Committee has been set up to restore full functionality of services affected in PC teaching block. Additional staff has also been deployed for guiding the patients," said the statement.
A senior police official said they were awaiting reports from the fire department and forensics that will help ascertain the cause of the fire. A case of negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter under section 285 of the IPC has been registered against unidentified persons, the police said.
