By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A female patient died and 10 injured after a fire that broke out in a private hospital in Dehradun on Wednesday morning prompting the Uttarakhand government to order a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
Three police personnel involved in the rescue operations were also hospitalized due to excessive suffocation.
The fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Panacea Hospital on Haridwar Road following an explosion caused by a short circuit in an air conditioner.
Health Minister Subodh Unniyal visited hospital and said he has also asked the Chief Medical Officer Dehradun to inquire whether private hospitals are fulfilling all security and other standards. In addition, Unniyal said a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered.
Immediately after getting the information, several fire tenders rushed to the scene to douse the fire as police personnel also began rescuing patients from the ICU.
However, several patients sustained injuries during the incident, and their condition worsened due to oxygen deprivation caused by the gas and smoke. They were subsequently transferred to various nearby hospitals where 60-year-old Veera Devi who was on ventilator support died.
Meanwhile, some of the police personnel involved in rescue operation also started burning sensations, suffocation, breathing difficulties following which they were admitted to a hospital. According to the police, 10 other patients sustained injuries in the incident, while three police personnel involved in the rescue operation were hospitalized. The injured patients include a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and an infant child.