ADILABAD: In a tragic incident past midnight on Monday, an infant on ventilator support died after an air-conditioner unit exploded in the paediatric ward of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad, triggering a major fire and thick smoke.
Preliminary investigations suggest that an electrical short circuit caused the AC unit to blast, quickly engulfing the ward in dense fumes. Hospital staff and emergency teams scrambled as the smoke spread, shifting several infants and children who suffered from smoke inhalation to nearby private hospitals for urgent medical attention.
Upon receiving the alert, fire tenders rushed to the hospital and brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading to adjacent wards.
The District Collector and the Superintendent of Police reached the hospital premises in the early hours to inspect the site, supervise the rescue operations, and order a thorough probe into the cause of the fire and any potential safety lapses.