At least 13 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in western India were killed on Friday in a deadly fire.

The fire broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Vijay Vallabh hospital in the Virar area, about 70 kilometres north of Mumbai. CEO of Vijay Vallabh hospital Dilip Shah said that the fire was extinguished and some patients requiring oxygen were moved to nearby hospitals. The cause of the fire is being investigated, Shah added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered his condolences, calling the incident tragic.

As India grapples with the rising number of COVID-19 cases, it struggles with a health system overwhelmed by patients and plagued by accidents. On Wednesday, at least 25 COVID-19 patients on ventilators died in a hospital in Nashik when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leak in a supply line.

Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana are facing a critical shortage of oxygen while Indian Supreme Court has asked the central government for a national plan by Friday, on bolstering supply, oxygen, medicine, treatment and vaccines.

On Friday, India recorded 332,730 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day tally in the world for the second consecutive day. 2,263 deaths were also reported in the previous 24 hours.