NEW DELHI (AP) — A local administrator in western India says 22 patients have died in a hospital when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leakage in a supply tank.

Suraj Mandhar, the district collector, said the oxygen supply has since been resumed to other patients.

Fire officer Sanjay Bairagi said the leakage was plugged by the fire service within 15 minutes, but there was supply disruption in the Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik, a city in Maharashtra state that is the worst-hit by the latest surge in coronavirus cases in the country.

Television images showed white fumes spreading in the hospital area, causing panic.

More than 170 patients were on oxygen in the hospital, according to local media.