A patient receiving blood transfusion at the Siraha Provincial Hospital died of a massive haemorrhage after a generator caught fire sending the staffers fleeing, on Wednesday.

Pradip Kumar Das was undergoing dialysis at the hospital when a nearby generator caught fire, causing panic among the hospital staff and the patients.

The 65-year-old, who had experienced blood loss during dialysis, was undergoing a blood transfusion when the incident took place.

Chaos ensued after patients from the dialysis section, High Dependency Unit (HDU), and the maternal ward had fled from their rooms in order to escape the fire.

After the generator caught fire, the medical staff, attending to Das, had allegedly detached the blood pipe and left the wound uncovered, which caused extreme blood loss, said Ashok Singh, information officer at the provincial hospital.

“Das was admitted to the emergency ward but died while undergoing treatment,” Singh added.

Das had been receiving dialysis, every Wednesday, for the past three years.

Eight other patients were also undergoing the same treatment during the time of the incident.

The fire was contained half an hour later by firefighters, locals and the police, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabindra Raj Pandey.

The total loss from the fire has been estimated at Rs4 million.