Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Health Director Doctor Dipti Mukherjee died Saturday evening. She was admitted to Kalinga Hospital in critical condition after fire broke out in city’s Apollo Hospital, Saturday morning.

Dr. Mukherjee was admitted to the Apollo Hospital about a month back for cardiac problem. She was in the ICU of the hospital when the fire broke out.

Panic gripped the hospital when some attendants of patients noticed thick smoke billowing out of a room in the fifth floor of the hospital. The hospital authority immediately shifted patients to nearby Kalinga Hospital.

Following information, two fire brigades rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. They detected that the fire broke out in the battery room near the ICU of the hospital.

Meanwhile, the state Fire Brigade DG BK Sharma has ordered an inquiry into the matter. There would a probe whether the hospital was following the fire safety protocol. The Bhubaneswar police commissioner Satyajit Mohanty also rushed to the hospital to supervise the rescue operations. Over 20 patients were rescued from the ICU and shifted to the nearby hospitals.

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