Siliguri, June 18: Sparks from a switchboard today triggered panic in the main operation theatre of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, five days after a fire at the emergency operation theatre.

Doctors and nurses were in the middle of two orthopaedic surgeries when they noticed sparks coming out of the switchboard at OT II around 1.30pm.

“We were carrying out the surgeries when we saw sparks from one of the switchboards. A fire had taken place at the emergency operation theatre on June 13, so we panicked. We were tense as there were two surgeries going on. While some doctors and nurses continued with the operations, some of us intimated the authorities,” said a nurse who was present in the room during the operation.

The surgeries were being conducted on a six-month-old boy and an adult male, said hospital sources.

Within five minutes, the mainswitch was put off and the operations were carried out under emergency lights.

“There was no gap in the surgical procedures which were completed using emergency lights. It took 20 minutes to complete the surgeries after the fire alarm. Although we faced some difficulties working under emergency lights, both the operations were successful,” said another on-duty nurse at OT II.

Two fire tenders from Siliguri fire station reached the NBMCH soon. However, they were not needed to put out the fire. The hospital authorities called in civil and electrical engineers of the public works department attached to the NBMCH.

S.P. Maitra, a fire official, said: “It was a not a fire but a momentary flash in one of the switchboards that caused panic among the staff at the operation theatre. A leak had developed near the switchboard and water had seeped into it, causing the sparks. Although we reached the spot in time, we did not have to use the fire tenders. Frequent fire alarms at the NBMCH are a matter of concern and the authorities should look into the aspects of electrical and civil maintenance of the entire hospital.”

On June 13, a fire had broken out at the emergency OT of the NBMCH because of a short circuit in the AC. Thirty patients were evacuated from the male and female casualty wards and 10 oxygen cylinders were removed from the OT safely. Since then, the main OT is being used for all emergency surgeries.

Today, there were 16 surgeries scheduled at the main OT and the last two were in progress when the incident took place.

After the PWD officials and the fire brigade team inspected the main OT, the power was restored.

According to the PWD’s electrical officials, the wiring at the main OT had been changed two years ago.

“Preliminary probe reveals that a leak in the switchboard had caused the electrical sparks. We have repaired the switchboard and checked the wiring. There is no danger now and the operation theatre can function as usual,” said a PWD electrical official at the NBMCH.

In the evening, the OT II was used to conduct an emergency operation.