Fire at Rangpur Medical College Hospital: 40 Patients Injured in Panic Rush, Key Wards Left Without Power
A fire in the electrical control room on the ground floor of Rangpur Medical College Hospital sent thick smoke and flames spreading through the building early Thursday. At least 40 patients were injured — trampled or falling — as they tried to flee the hospital in panic. The fire broke out at around 6:15am.
A fire service team reached the scene and brought the blaze under control after about half an hour of effort. But even after the flames were doused, fear lingered across the hospital, with patients and relatives gripped by anxiety.
The fire plunged the entire hospital into darkness. After lengthy efforts, partial power was restored to a few wards, but the nephrology, cardiology, gynaecology and kidney dialysis wards remained without electricity. As a result, emergency operations and all forms of medical care came to a halt.
According to witnesses and hospital sources, moments after the fire started in the ground-floor control room, smoke filled the floors above. Patients and their attendants from the second to the fifth floors tried to rush outside. In the scramble down the stairs, at least 40 people were injured in falls and trampling.
The situation had not normalised as the day wore on. As of 4pm, when this report was written, there was still no power in the hospital director's office, the cardiology department, the pathology ward, the skin and venereal disease ward, the kidney dialysis ward and the nephrology ward. Patients in the powerless wards suffered severely in the intense heat.
In the second-floor nephrology ward, two nephews carrying kidney patient Shafiul Alam down the stairs in their arms fell and were injured, and Shafiul himself was hurt as well. At least 15 patients from that ward were reportedly injured after being trampled in the rush to get downstairs.
Scenes in the gynaecology ward were more heart-rending still. Several newborn babies were injured as mothers carried them down the stairs from the third floor. Momtaz Begum, a patient in the ward, said her daughter was born five days ago; hearing of the fire, she hurried down with her baby and was herself injured in the rush.
Many escaped using the iron emergency exit stairs, where several more people were injured in the crush. In all, the number of injured patients reached at least 40; they were given primary treatment.
Dr Abdul Mokaddem, the hospital's acting director, said the fire originated from an electrical short circuit, and that efforts were under way to restore the power connection.
Rangpur Medical College Hospital is the largest government medical facility in the northern region, drawing thousands of patients daily from districts across Rangpur division. With sensitive wards such as dialysis and cardiology left without power for hours, concern mounted over the treatment of critically ill patients.
The fire has also raised questions about the hospital's electrical safety arrangements. Patients and relatives demanded an examination of why a short circuit in the control room could spark a fire that spread so far, and how effective regular maintenance and fire safety measures had been.
Authorities say the immediate priority is restoring full power supply and returning medical services to normal; treatment of the injured patients is continuing. But those concerned warn that unless fire and electrical safety are strengthened in sensitive institutions like hospitals, such panic-filled incidents could happen again.
