New Delhi

Union Minister of Culture and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday informed that relief and rescue operations are being carried out after six people lost their lives after a fire broke out at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur on late Sunday night.

"The fire incident at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur is 'extremely tragic' and "heart-wrenching", Shekhawat said in a message on X in hindi.

Relief and rescue operations are being "swiftly" carried out by the hospital and district administration, and "every possible assistance is being provided to the injured", he added in his post.

Atleast 6 people have lost their lives in the Sawai Man Singh Hospital after a fire broke out at its premises on Sunday night. The relatives of the victims reportedly gathered outside the hospital, sloganeering against the hospital administration and the BJP-led government in the state.

Earlier today, the relatives of the victims who were admitted to the ICU recounted harrowing experiences as smoke engulfed the ward, exposing critical lapses in safety measures.

Puran Singh, a relative of a patient, said, "When there was a spark, there was a cylinder beside it. The smoke spread throughout the ICU, causing everyone to flee in panic. Some managed to rescue their own patients, but mine was left alone in the room. As the gas spread further, they shut the gates."

The relatives also claimed that there was a lack of equipment to douse the fire.

"There was a fire in the ICU, and I didn't even know. I had come downstairs to have dinner at the time. There wasn't even any equipment to douse the fire--no facilities were available. My mother was admitted there," Narendra Singh said.

While the cause of the fire, prima facie, is being attributed to a short circuit, the Rajasthan government on Monday constituted a six-member committee to investigate the fire that broke out in the Trauma ICU of the hospital, claiming six lives.

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The committee will be chaired by Iqbal Khan, Commissioner of the Medical Department, and includes Mukesh Kumar Meena, Additional Director of Hospital Administration in Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES), Chandan Singh Meena, Chief Engineer, RajMES; Ajay Mathur, Chief Engineer, Electrical in PWD; RK Jain, Additional Principal, SMS Medical College, and Chief Fire Officer, Jaipur Municipal Corporation.