Kolkata: Twenty people have died of suffocation in a massive fire that broke out in AMRI hospital in south Kolkata on Friday, West Bengal Health Minister Sudip Bandhyopadhyay told CNN-IBN. There was still no clarity on what caused the fire.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

Reports said many bodies have been moved to SSKM hospital. The identification of bodies was on but sources said some of the bodies may not be identified as they were charred.

The angry relatives of the patients who died alleged that the hospital staff abandoned patients and did not help them rush out. They said that this resulted in suffocation, and therefore, deaths of the patients.

Nearly 25 fire tenders were working hard to evacuate all patients and staff. Even as reports said the fire has been doused, Fire Services Minister Javed Khan said that there was still fire in the basement.

“The fire engulfed four floors of one of the buildings of the AMRI hospital in Dhakuria,” an officer manning the city police control room told IANS over phone.

The 161-bed hospital is located in Dhakuria in Kolkata.

Firemen using ladders smashed window panes in the facade to rescue patients trapped inside the ICU, ICCU, ITU and Critical Care units.

Fire Services Minister Javed Khan said the fire spread because of stocks of highly combustible material.

The hospital also did not have proper fire-fighting equipment, he said.

Fire brigade sources said that firemen were trying to locate oxygen cylinders stocked on the floors, as the fire could make them explode.

Thick smoke was hindering the operations, they said.