09/08/2020 Fire breaks out at COVID care centre in Vijayawada, 8 feared dead | The News Minute

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Fire breaks out at COVID care centre in V ayawada, 8 feared dead

The incident took place at Hotel Swarna Palace, which was housing COVID-19 patients who did not require hospitalisation.

CORONAVIRUS ACCIDENT | SUNDAY, AUGUST 09, 2020 - 08:16

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A major re broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning at Hotel Swarna Palace in Vijayawada, which had been
converted into a COVID care centre (CCC). While initial reports said that there were three casualities, at least eight people
are feared dead in the mishap besides several others, who were injured, according to authorities. The building was housing
COVID-19 patients who were mildly symptomatic and those who did not require hospitalisation.

Visuals of the incident show people stuck in the upper oors of the building, even as re engines battled ames which had
broken out near the rst and second oor of the hotel. Many of them were standing near their balcony and signalling to
authorities to help them. 

Andhra Pradesh Fire service personnel used ladders to rescue some of those who were stuck, while others were brought
out of the building after the ames were doused and put in ambulances that had arrived at the spot. The entire lobby of
the hotel was destroyed in the accident. 

Speaking to TNM, Krishna District Fire Of cer Sreenivasa Reddy said, "Around eight to 10 people are feared dead. There
were 30 patients in total (at the centre). The rest have been rescued and sent to Ramesh Hospital. They were all COVID-19
patients admitted to the CCC run by Ramesh Hospital. There may have been ve to 10 staff members. The cause of the
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09/08/2020 Fire breaks out at COVID care centre in Vijayawada, 8 feared dead | The News Minute
patients admitted to the CCC run by Ramesh Hospital. There may have been ve to 10 staff members. The cause of the

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re is still unclear. We can only say that after investigation." 

Additional information: This Covid Care Centre was was being run by a private hospital called as Ramesh Hospital.
pic.twitter.com/hXWeUoR18d

— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) August 9, 2020

While the reason for the re is yet to be ascertained, media reports suggest that a short circuit could have led to the
incident. Further details are awaited.

Responding to the incident, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock and grief and spoke to concerned
of cials to take up rescue measures.

"He also instructed of cials to conduct an enquiry over the accident," a statement from the Chief Minister's Of ce (CMO)
said.

Earlier this week, a re at a private hospital in Ahmedabad in Gujarat had led to the deaths of eight COVID-19 patients.
The victims included ve men and three women, who were being treated at the ICU ward of the COVID-19 designated
Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad. Primary investigations had revealed that the re was caused by an
electrical short circuit.

At present, Andhra Pradesh has reported 2,14,145 COVID-19 cases, of which 85,486 are active. While 1,26,720 people
have recovered, 1,939 people have succumbed to the virus. Vijayawada city accounts for a major chunk of coronavirus
cases.

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