A fire broke out at the Metro Hospitals and Heart Institute in Noida on February 7, trapping several people inside the multi-storeyed building but no casualty was reported, officials said.

A magisterial level probe was ordered into the incident by Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate B N Singh, who said more than 40 patients had to be shifted to Metro's another hospital. "I have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. The city magistrate has been asked to submit his report within 15 days," the district magistrate said.

The district's Chief Fire Officer Anup Kumar Singh said the hospital's fire licence had expired five months ago. The hospital authorities had got a licence from the Fire Department in March 2017, but did not get it renewed. A Fire Department official said the fire broke out on the second floor of the hospital around noon. A short-circuit in one of the water heaters resulted in the fire, he said.

Thick smoke could be seen billowing out of the building in Sector 12. People stood on ledges and balconies as rescuers tried to reach them by smashing window panes. "I came here from Moradabad to see my uncle who was admitted here. At around 12 pm when we came down after meeting him, we noticed that people were shouting from inside the hospital building. We noticed that a fire had broken out and heavy smoke was coming out," Somesh Bharti, a relative of one of the patients, said.

Staffers tried to help the patients out of the building which was filled with thick smoke. "I heard cries of people shouting for help as there was a lot of smoke. The hospital staffers broke the window panes to let the smoke pass," Virender Jain, a local, said.

Around 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control, Fire Department officials said. The hospital authorities, however, did not respond to repeated calls and text messages. In December 2017, a similar incident took place at the Metro Hospital and Cancer Institute in east Delhi's Preet Vihar area