Firefighters have put out the flames at the Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka which erupted on Thursday evening.
“Fire is under control and no causalities were reported,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the reporters on the spot.
It took 16 fire-fighting units nearly two and a half hour to tame the flames, which erupted around 6pm.
The fire was put out at around 8:20pm, said Fire Service Director General Ali Ahmed Khan.
According to the DG, the fire gutted as many as 15 rooms of the hospital’s building.
Director of the hospital Dr Uttam Kumar Barua said the fire broke out in a central medicine store at the new building of the hospital wing.
Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing from an under-construction part of the hospital.
Panicked by fire, patients along with their relatives rushed to safety whereas some were seen leaving the hospital.
Barua said there were nearly 1,200 patients in the state-owned hospital. All of them have been safely evacuated.
They have been giving treatment on the open space in front of the hospital with some patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit being transferred to other hospitals.
“We hope to bring back to all patients by tonight, except for some wards, including Gynae department,” said Barua.
Patients of the surgery department have been shifted to Kurmitola General Hospital and Mugda Medical College and Hospital, said Dr Kamruzzaman of the surgery department.
Along with the home minister, Health Minister Zahid Maleque and State Minister for Health Murad Hasan rushed to the hospital.
A seven-member panel headed by hospital director Barua has been formed to investigate into the incident, Maleque told the reporters.
The body will report within seven working days, he said.