New Delhi, Nov 27 (TIWN) The Supreme Court on Friday took cognizance of a fire incident in a hospital in Gujarat's Rajkot, where 5 patients died in the blaze, calling it a "wakeup call" for serious action to prevent any more such incidents.

Expressing anguish over the incident, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising Justices R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah termed it “shocking”, and said that the Gujarat government must be answerable and there can’t just be an inquiry and report.

Citing the fire incident as a wakeup call, the bench said the issues with fire safety in hospitals would not be resolved by merely appointing committees or commissions, and instead there must a thorough inspection of the premises and the responsibility should be fixed.

The Rajkot hospital fire resulted in the death of five patients in the ICU of the dedicated Covid-19 hospital.