Thane, Apr 24 (PTI) A day after a fire in a hospital in Virar in neighbouring Palghar district killed 15 patients, Union minister Ramdas Athawale visited the facility on Saturday and demanded a judicial inquiry into the horrific incident.

A blaze in the second-floor ICU of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar shortly after 3 am on Friday led to the death of 15 COVID-19 patients.

Athawale said fire and safety audits must be conducted of all hospitals in the state, since such incidents were on the rise, a reference to the Nashik hospital gas leak on April 21, which killed 22.

Virar police has registered a case under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 and 338 (both dealing with rash or negligent act endangering human life) and 38 (acts done by several in furtherance of common intention) of IPC against the Virar hospital's directors.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)