Fire breaks out at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, several fire tenders rushed to the spot

• A fire broke out at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital on Wednesday. Several fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Tamil Nadu’s Principal Secretary-Health, Dr J Radhakrishnan said that all the patients from the hospital have been evacuated safely. Primary reports suggested that the fire began in the storeroom of the hospital reportedly due to a short circuit.

• “All patients have been evacuated safely. The fire broke out in one of the older buildings, the new three blocks are safe from fire. So far no report of casualties or injuries have been reported,” Radhakrishnan said, news agency ANI quoted.

• Visuals on social media sjowed chaos outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. According to local media reports, early speculations suggested that the fire started from a store room at the third block of the hospital, where cylinders have been kept. An unconfirmed report suggested that one of the Oxygen cylinders at the block exploded during the fire. Times Now could not independely verify the authenticity of the report.

Second tragedy in Tamil Nadu in a day

This is the second tragedy in Tamil Nadu within a span of few hours. Earlier in the day, 11 people were charred to death during a procession in Thanjavur. 11 people died and 15 were injured when the chariot they were travelling on came in contact with an overhead electrical wire. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for the kin of the victims. PM Narendra Modi also condoled the loss of lives in Thanjavur and announced Rs 2 lakh from the PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives and Rs 50,000 for injured.