Child among six dead after fire breaks out at private hospital in southern India

Victims were found by firefighters inside a lift, and include a couple and a mother and son

Still from footage of the scene outside a private hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul after a fire broke out (NDTV / YouTube. Screengrab)

Six people have died, including a six-year-old girl, after a fire broke out at a private hospital in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The incident took place at about 9pm local time on Thursday night at the City Hospital on Trichy Road in Dindigul.

Most of the victims, including a couple and a mother and son, died from asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation, The Indian Express reported.

The victims were found unconscious in a lift and taken to another hospital nearby where they were declared dead.

Some people also suffered burn injuries, police told local media.

Emergency services personnel found the victims after saving around 30 patients who were admitted to the district’s government hospital.

“A fire broke out at a private hospital about two hours ago. The patients here have been rescued and admitted to nearby government and private hospitals,” MN Poongodi, a senior local administration official in Dindigul, told news agency ANI.

The firefighters reportedly worked over two hours to put out the fire, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, The Hindustan Times reported.

Nearly 50 ambulances were deployed to assist with the evacuation.

Photos and videos showed smoke and flames billowing from the hospital, with fire trucks and emergency services workers trying to control the blaze.

The victims were identified as Suruli, 50, and his wife Subbulakshmi, 45, from Theni; Mariammal, 50, and her son, Mani Murugan, 28, from Dindigul; Rajasekar, 35; and a six-year-old girl also from Dindigul.

The bodies were sent to the Dindigul Medical College Hospital for postmortem.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, MK Stalin, conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and announced monetary relief to each of them as well as financial assistance to the injured.

The Independent has reached out to the local administration in Dindigul for comment.