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Ahmedabad, Aug 6: In a major incident, a fire broke out in a Covid-designated hospital in Ahmedabad killing eight coronavirus patients. The mishap occurred in the wee hours of Thursday.

All the victims were in the ICU ward, where the fire is said to have started. Officials said that they all died on the spot while 41 other patients were shifted to other hospitals following a rescue operation. One paramedic staff of the hospital who tried to douse the fire sustained burn injuries.  

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also the health minister, said that primary information has revealed that fire was caused by the short circuit in the ICU ward where eight patients were under treatment. 

He said that 41 other patients were shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospital. The incident happened at Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura which is one of the Covid-19 designated hospitals. Over 300 patients have recovered at the hospital in the last two months.

Among the victims were five men and three women. They have been identified as Arif Mansuri, Narendra Shah, Manu Rami, Leelvati Shah, Navneet Shah, Jyoti Sindhi, Manu Rami and Ayesha Tirmizi  

Following the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to CM @vijayrupanibjp Ji and Mayor
@ibijalpatel Ji regarding the situation. Administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected."

Soon after the tweet, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered a probe into the matter to be conducted by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, Sangeeta Singh and ACS (Urban Development) Mukesh Puri. 

They have been asked to submit a report in three days. Meanwhile, the hospital building has been sealed for further investigation. 

The chief minister has ordered a report within three days.

The Indian Defence Ministry, which had in its document that China intruded into the Indian territory in eastern Ladakh in early May, on August 6 took down the page which it had uploaded on its website.

According to a report by news channel NDTV, the ministry, in its document, had said the Chinese aggression has been "increasing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and more particularly in Galwan valley since May 5."

"The Chinese side has transgressed in the areas of Kungrang Nala, Gogra and north bank of Pangong Tso Lake on May 17-18," the document, titled 'Chinese Aggression on LAC' stated.

The document revealed that "... a violent face-off incident took place between the two sides on June 15, resulting in casualties on both sides."

After the clash, a second corps commander level meeting took place on June 22 to discuss the modalities of de-escalation. "While engagement and dialogue at military and diplomatic level is continuing to arrive at mutually acceptable consensus, the present standoff is likely to be prolonged," it said.

A defence ministry spokesperson told the news channel that the document "did not go through him".

The opposition Congress, meanwhile, asked the government why the report was taken down with party leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that removal of the document from websites would not change facts.

"Forget standing up to China, India's PM lacks the courage even to name them. Denying China is in our territory and removing documents from websites won't change the facts," Gandhi tweeted.