Panic gripped the Malda Medical College and Hospital here after medical waste dumped outside the female ward caught fire this evening, hospital sources said.
However, the fire was not a major one and a fire tender brought it under control, they said.
Smoke billowed out of the medical waste which included cotton and bandage and filled a portion of the hospital, the sources said.
Panicked patients, their relatives and hospital staff ran helter-skelter before the situation was brought under control.
All patients were safe and no damage was caused to the hospital building, the sources said.
It was being suspected that a burnt stub of a cigarette or 'bidi' thrown on the waste caused the fire.
Union minister of state for health Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury and state Tourism Minister Krishnendu Chowdhury, MP and MLA from the district respectively, visited the hospital.
Top officials of the district administration also visited the hospital.
