They say the fire started in the dialysis ward of the SUM hospital, a private facility in the city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha state. Dozens of patients were taken to other medical facilities in the city. About 120 firefighters were mobilised to tackle the blaze, which was later brought under control. PM Narendra Modi said he was “anguished” by the fire. “We suspect the fire occurred due to an electric short circuit in the dialysis ward”, Binoy Behera, a local fire services official, was quoted by the Times of India website as saying. Most of the victims reportedly died from smoke inhalation. “We can confirm 19 deaths in the incident,” Bhubaneswar police commissioner Yogesh Khurania told the AFP news agency. Another 106 are injured. Earlier reports had put the death toll at 23. Commissioner Khurania said that many of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll could rise further. Image copyright AP Image caption “The tragedy is mind-numbing,” PM Narendra Modi said on Twitter Image copyright Eurpoean Photopress Agency Image caption Local television showed images of fire fighters smashing glass panes to enter the building Some frightened patients and hospital employees tried to jump out of the building’s windows but were prevented from doing so by police, reports said “Deeply anguished by the loss of lives in the hospital fire in Odisha. The tragedy is mind-numbing. My thoughts are with bereaved families,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. In 2011, 89 people died in a fire that broke out in a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.