“One of the ventilators caught fire”: what is known about the fire in a hospital in St. Petersburg

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case after a fire in the city hospital of St. George in the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg. 

“The Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in St. Petersburg opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing death by negligence to two or more persons), ”the statement reads on the website of the department.

Governor Alexander Beglov said that five people were killed in the fire.

“A large number of victims were avoided thanks to the professionalism and dedicated actions of the doctors and nurses of the department,” he said.

Beglov also noted that 15 people from the injured department were evacuated to other parts of the hospital, evacuation of the entire clinic was not needed. According to the governor, more victims were avoided thanks to the professionalism of the doctors and nurses of the department.

“They immediately, not waiting for the arrival of firefighters, began to evacuate their patients to other floors and to other departments, rolled out beds to protect patients from smoke. But the most important thing is that they managed to turn off the power supply and oxygen supply in the department, which prevented more serious consequences, ”he added.

According to the governor, a preliminary cause of the incident was a short circuit in electrical equipment.

“One of the ventilators caught fire. Now investigators are working on the spot, ”Beglov said.

The governor instructed to check the medical equipment, the state of fire safety and the evacuation routes for seriously ill patients in all hospitals of the city. He also noted that material assistance will be provided to the relatives of the victims.

According to Valery Strizheletsky, head physician of St. George’s Hospital, patients will be resumed at the facility by the evening of May 12.

“Now we have a relatively quiet mode of operation, systematic activities are being carried out, which we conduct daily. At 18:00 we plan to fully resume the work of the hospital, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

In turn, the prosecutor of the Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg Pavel Danilov said that patients who died as a result of a fire got there because of a coronavirus infection. 

“The dead are patients in the intensive care unit. These are patients who got there with this disease, ”TASS quoted him as saying.

According to Vladimir Sulima, head of the general reanimation department of the St. George’s Hospital, the ventilators were received on May 1, and there were no complaints against them.

“Currently, these devices are not used in work. We use the equipment that is available in our arsenal. Until the outcome of the investigation, we will not operate these devices, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Sulim added that at least three of the five dead were connected to the ventilator.

After the tragedy, Roszdravnadzor announced the beginning of quality and safety checks of ventilation devices in hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is specified that the checks are organized in the city clinical hospital No. 50 named after S.I. Spasokukotsky in Moscow and St. George's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

• Firefighters on a fire in the City Clinical Hospital named after S.I. Spasokukotsky
• AGN "Moscow"
• © Denis Voronin

Recall that the fire in the capital's hospital named after S.I. Spasokukotsky occurred on May 9. In this medical facility, patients with coronavirus were also treated. Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Social Development, said that the patient died during a fire.

“The fire occurred in one of the premises of the Spasokukotsky City Clinical Hospital, in a six-story building on the ground floor. The fire alarm went off, firefighters and medical services immediately arrived. All patients were evacuated within 30 minutes - 295 people, the fire was completely eliminated, ”she said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased and promised that the causes of the fire would be thoroughly investigated.

In one of the buildings on the ground floor of City Clinical Hospital No. 50, a fire occurred. The fire was quickly extinguished. All patients are evacuated and will be transported to other hospitals. Unfortunately, there were some casualties. According to preliminary data, one of the patients died. I am sorry for his family and friends.

“In one of the buildings on the ground floor of City Clinical Hospital No. 50, a fire occurred. The fire was quickly extinguished. All patients are evacuated and will be transported to other hospitals. Unfortunately, there were some casualties. According to preliminary data, one of the patients died. I am sorry for his family and friends, ”Sobyanin said on Twitter.