Hospital fire in western India kills at least 15

At least 15 people were killed after a fire broke out at a hospital in western India shortly after midnight on Saturday, AP has reported citing police force.

The fire erupted at Patel Welfare Hospital's dedicated COVID-19 care center at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday in Bharuch in the western state of Gujarat, Rajendrasinh Chudasama, superintendent of police, Bharuch told local media.

Fifty other patients were rescued by hospital workers and firefighters, he added.

The cause of the incident was not immediately known.

India, which is battling a second wave of coronavirus infections, has recently witnessed several fatal hospital fires.

On April 28, a hospital blaze in Mumbai killed four patients. And 13 patients died at a private COVID-19 care hospital at Virar, 74 km north of Mumbai, after it caught fire on April 23.