Police Investigate Patient Death During Fire at Dr. Soetomo Hospital

Police are investigating the death of a patient during a fire that broke out on the 5th floor of the Integrated Heart Center building at Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya on Friday morning.

The head of the Gubeng Police, Commissioner Eko Sudarmanto, said that the fire is suspected to have had a direct impact on the health of the patients who were being treated in the area.

“Of course, the fire had an impact. Yes, the impact was probably on the 4th or 5th floors,” said Eko at the scene on Friday.

According to initial reports received by the police, about 30 patients had to be evacuated as a result of the incident, one patient was declared dead, and another patient was reported to be in critical condition.

However, Eko said that the police have not taken further action because the patient’s status is still under the internal care of the hospital.

“Yes, the information was that one person died and one was in critical condition. For now, it is still being handled by the hospital. We will let the hospital handle it because we have not yet received the handover,” he said.

However, Eko said that the police are preparing to take further identification steps involving the Surabaya Police Inafis team and the East Java Police Forensic Laboratory.

This will be done as soon as the fire area is declared completely safe by the fire department.

“Later, when it is handed over by the fire department, then identification will be carried out with Inafis, and if necessary, the Forensic Laboratory will be used,” he said.

Meanwhile, the management of Dr. Soetomo Hospital has expressed its openness to the investigation process carried out by the police.

The Deputy Director of Medical and Nursing Services at Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Suryawan, is committed to helping the police investigate the incident thoroughly.

“Yes, we are cooperative. So, clearly, we are not yet able to enter the location because we are prohibited by the fire department. After the area is secured from the fire and so on, we will just wait to see if we are allowed to enter or not by the police, who are also at the location,” said Suryawan.

Suryawan said that they are currently waiting for technical instructions in the field before being allowed to access the scene again. He promised that all the data needed by the police and the fire department will be fully facilitated by the hospital.

“We are very open to facilitating anything that is needed by the fire department and the police regarding this,” he said.

Previously, a fire broke out on the 5th floor of the Integrated Heart Center building at Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya on Friday morning. One patient was reported dead.

The fire report was received by officers at around 6:30 a.m. According to observations, thick black smoke was seen billowing from the top of the building and was clearly visible from outside the hospital.

The Head of the Surabaya City Fire and Rescue Service, Laksita Rini Sevriani, confirmed that there were casualties in the incident.

“In the ICU, one patient was declared dead. The other was evacuated,” said Rini when contacted by reporters on Friday.

A total of 33 patients who were in the PPJT building have been evacuated by joint officers to the Emergency Unit (UGD) to receive further medical treatment. Rini explained that the fire originated from one of the vital rooms on the 5th floor.

The management of Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya issued a clarification regarding reports of a patient’s death in the fire incident that occurred in the 5th-floor area of the Integrated Heart Center building at Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya on Friday morning.

The hospital stated that the patient’s death was purely due to the disease they suffered, not due to the impact of the fire or smoke exposure.

The Director of Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Prof. Dr. Cita Rosita Sigit Prakoeswa, said that the patient was in critical condition before the fire occurred. During the incident, the patient was receiving assistance through medical equipment because they were experiencing failure of several major organs.

“The patient died of the disease. Because, as our colleagues explained, the condition was already supported by three organs, namely the lungs, heart, and kidneys. And dialysis was underway, and we still carried out the evacuation, and of course, it was not due to smoke because everything was supported by machines,” said Cita at the scene.