Fire at Kolkata hospital cuts electric supply, ‘3 Idiots’ style operation conducted using mobile phone flashlights

PTI, Apr 26, 2023, 11:28 AM IST

The city on Tuesday witnessed a rerun of “3 Idiots” in practical life when doctors at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital conducted surgeries with the help of their mobile phone torches following a power failure after a fire broke out in the hospital building.

The fire in the server rooms of the hospital also impacted the electrical systems at the College’s SSB building on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Six fire tenders were pressed into service which doused the blaze within an hour, he added.

“There were no casualties and an investigation has been started to find out what triggered the blaze,” the police officer said.

One of the doctors, who was conducting a kidney surgery when the power supply was disrupted, told PTI on condition of anonymity, “Electricity supply at the OT was snapped … But as we cannot leave a surgery midway, we continued with ad hoc lighting. It would have been more dangerous for the patient if we had stopped the surgery midway.

“That is the reason I do not want to take any credit.”