Overview
- An overnight blaze in the Neuro ICU storage area at Jaipur’s state-run SMS Hospital filled the ward with toxic smoke, with firefighters breaking windows and taking about two hours to bring the fire under control.
- Hospital officials confirm six fatalities in the affected ICU as evacuations unfolded, while several reports and spokespeople cite up to eight deaths pending forensic and post-mortem confirmation.
- A six-member committee led by Medical Education Department commissioner Iqbal Khan is investigating the cause, emergency response, and fire-safety arrangements at the trauma centre.
- The state removed the hospital superintendent and the trauma-centre in-charge, suspended the executive engineer, announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for each victim’s family, and cancelled the fire-safety firm’s tender with legal action initiated.
- Relatives accuse staff of ignoring early warnings and fleeing as resources fell short, while a removed in-charge says he had issued written alerts about electrical hazards days before the fire.