13 patients killed in hospital fire in western India

MUMBAI - At least 13 COVID-19 patients have been killed after a fire broke out at a private hospital near India's financial capital Mumbai in the early hours of Friday, hospital officials said.

There were altogether 90 patients when the fire took place in the hospital, which is located at Virar, about 74 km north of Mumbai, at about 03:15 am local time.

The surviving patients have been shifted to a nearby healthcare facility.

The fire, preceded by an explosion in the air-conditioner unit of the intensive care unit of the hospital, was extinguished by 5:30 a.m. local time, according to a disaster management official.

Last month, a fire at a COVID-19 care hospital in Mumbai led to the deaths of nine patients, while earlier this week on Wednesday, low oxygen supply after leakage in the tank led to 29 deaths in a civic-run hospital at Nashik, 167 km away from Mumbai.

India has been facing a shortage of oxygen supply in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19 wave and so far, has close to 2.3 million active cases with 184,657 deaths.