Fire in Barishal's Sher-E-Bangla hospital under control after 2 hours
The fire was brought under control at around 11:30am
The fire that broke out at the Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal at around 9am this morning (13 October) has been brought under control.
Nine firefighting units managed to bring the flames under control after a two-hour-long effort, said Belal Uddin, assistant director of Barishal Fire Service and Civil Defence.
"Although the fire inside the hospital has been brought under control, there is smoke. We have managed to evacuate all patients safely," he added.
He said the Fire Service was notified about the fire at 9:03am. "We reached the hospital at 9:06am and started working to bring the blaze under control.
"The fire was brought under control at around 11:30am," said Belal.
Mojibur Rahman, the father of a patient in the hospital, said, "I have returned from the jaws of death. The hospital's second, third and fourth floors suddenly got engulfed in smoke at around 9:15am."
"Hundreds of people started running down. My son is ill; I risked a lot to get out while covering his face with a cloth through the smoke," he added.
Hospital staff said that although the fire had damaged some hospital property, no patients had been harmed.
However, it is not yet confirmed whether there were any casualties.
It has been suspected that the fire originated from a store room of the medicine unit on the ground floor.