LAHORE: The emergency ward of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital again caught fire on Wednesday causing a great deal of unrest and fear among patients and their attendants.

A week ago, a fire had broken out in the emergency ward and three patients fainted due to dense smoke.

On Wednesday, a storeroom located at the first floor of the department caught fire. The stampede-like situation occurred when the patients and their attendants rushed out of the emergency ward. Many attendants had to use stairs to bring patients out of the building due to closure of the lifts.

Rescue 1122 staff rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire within two hours. The wards were immediately vacated to give access to rescuers.

They said the fire erupted when somebody left an iron on in the store, locked it and disappeared. The rescuers broke open the door to reach the store.

The hospital administration suspended two nurses -- store in-charge Tahira Ashraf and Sheerin Sultana -- holding them responsible for the incident. It also formed a committee of senior admin officials and doctors to probe the incident. — Staff Reporter

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2014