Cuttack, Oct. 29: A huge chunk of plaster fell off the ceiling of the old medicine ward of SCB Medical College and Hospital here today. The incident occurred around 1.30pm at the third female unit located on the fourth floor of the old medicine ward.

However, nobody was injured. The chunk fell on the chairs and tables where doctors, nurses and post-graduate students review case histories of various patients.

“I was sleeping when the incident occurred. A loud thud woke me up and I saw plaster strewn on the ground. A small piece of the plaster fell on me. Luckily I wasn’t injured. Nevertheless, it was a shocking experience,” said Kanak Jena, a patient from Jajpur.

“My daughter was sleeping and I was preparing lunch near her bed. The cement chunks fell just a few inches away from her bed,” said Kanak’s mother Durga Jena.

Patients and their attendants inside the ward have demanded immediate repairs as cracks have developed in several other places inside the building.

“Many doctors and other medical staff would have been injured had they been present on the spot at that time,” said Arjun Sahu, an attendant.

Just minutes before the incident, two doctors, three nurses and two post-graduate students were sitting on the same place where the concrete slab fell.

“The doctors had just left the ward a few minutes before the mishap. Otherwise, they would have sustained severe injuries on their head. They had a lucky escape,” said Rama Dei, a nurse.

Minor repair works were taken up at the medicine ward two years ago. However, cracks have again developed in many places.

Earlier this year, a fan had fallen off the ceiling at the gynaecology ward of the hospital. Patients had also been complaining of defunct fans that move slowly and make a lot of noise. “The fans make a lot of noise as they are old. We are afraid they might fall on the patients, as a ceiling fan had fallen in the gynaecology department recently,” Mahendra Barik, a patient's attendant from Jagatsinghpur district, had said.

“Many of the old, defunct fans have been replaced in different wards. We have already procured 100 new ceiling fans, which will be installed at various departments wherever there is a requirement,” senior hospital manager Srikanta Mahapatra had said.