The devastating fire at the government-run SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack has claimed two more lives, bringing the total death toll to 12 as of Tuesday, March 17, 2026. The latest victims were identified as 20-year-old Pabitra Dosari from Koraput and 30-year-old Suman Kumar Sahoo from Angul, both of whom succumbed to severe burn injuries and smoke inhalation while undergoing treatment in separate intensive care units. The blaze, which erupted in the early hours of Monday in the trauma care ICU, initially killed 10 patients as thick smoke engulfed the first-floor facility. Despite the heroic efforts of hospital staff and security personnel—11 of whom sustained injuries during the rescue—the high concentration of critically ill patients on ventilator support made evacuation a harrowing and near-impossible task.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was triggered by an electrical short circuit in an air conditioning unit, exacerbated by the failure of the hospital’s automatic sprinkler and fire alarm systems. In response to the growing public outcry, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has ordered a high-level judicial inquiry headed by retired district judge Laxmidhar Biswal, with a mandate to submit a report within 60 days. The state government has announced an ex-gratia of ₹25 lakh for the kin of each deceased, while the Prime Minister’s Office has pledged additional support of ₹2 lakh from the PMNRF. However, the tragedy has quickly turned into a political flashpoint, with the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress disrupting Assembly proceedings to demand the resignation of Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling over alleged systemic safety lapses at the state’s premier healthcare institution.
As the state mourns, the focus remains on the survivors and the injured staff members who are currently stable. The incident has cast a shadow over the hospital’s infrastructure, revealing that critical safety valves for the water sprinklers were reportedly left closed and alarm systems deactivated at the time of the fire. With the government facing intense pressure to modernize fire safety protocols across all public health facilities, the Cuttack tragedy serves as a grim reminder of the high cost of administrative negligence. For the families of the victims, many of whom were nearing recovery before the blaze struck, the quest for justice has only just begun as the judicial panel begins its probe into the nightmarish events of March 16.
