At least 11 coronavirus patients were killed early Sunday by a fire at a South Indian hotel that was used as a COVID-19 facility, officials said, in the second such incident this month.
The flame at Hotel Swarna Palace in the city of Vijayawada, state of Andhra Pradesh, broke out at 5am local time (23:30 GMT Saturday).
Rescue teams evacuated those sitting in the multi-storey building, according to senior police officer Srinivasulu, who uses only one name.
At least 22 people were taken to hospitals, he said.
The fire was brought under control, but smoke was still falling from the building, he said, adding that an electrical short circuit appeared to be the cause of the fire.
On Thursday, eight people were killed in a fire in the intensive care unit of a private COVID-19 designated hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state.
Fires are common in buildings in India due to poor safety standards with insufficient flammers, smoke detectors and fire alarm systems.
With 64,339 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, India saw its highest rate of one day and more than 60,000 cases for a third consecutive day.
The country registered a surplus of 550,000 infections in 10 days. The total number of cases in the country has exceeded 2.1 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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