Extremely pained by the loss of lives due to a hospital fire in Rajkot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his condolence message. Five patients have died after a fire broke out in the ICU of a designated COVID-19 hospital in Gujarat's Rajkot in the early hours of Friday.

“My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate tragedy. Praying for a quick recovery of the injured. The administration is ensuring all possible assistance to those affected,” Modi  tweeted.

The fire broke out in the ICU of Uday Shivanand Hospital in Mavdi area around 1 am. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered a probe into the incident, news agency ANI reported.

Twenty eight other coronavirus patients being treated at the hospital were rescued, the reports added. 

"We rushed to the spot and rescued 30 patients after a call informing about the fire was received. Three patients died inside the ICU, while two died shortly thereafter," a fire brigade official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The fire was brought under control, he said, adding he cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet. The rescued patients have been shifted to other COVID-19 hospitals. In August, eight COVID-19 patients were killed after a fire broke out on the top floor of a four-storey private hospital in Ahmedabad.