Agencies
Mumbai, January 09:
Ten newborn babies died after a massive fire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of a hospital in Maharashtra in the wee hours on Saturday.
All the infants killed were between a month and three months old, a doctor told.
A fire broke out at around 2 am at the Sick Newborn Care Unit of the hospital. There were 17 babies in the unit and seven were rescued, as per reports.
Seven other kids who were admitted to the unit were however rescued.
Another doctor said a nurse first noticed smoke coming out from the neonatal section of the hospital and alerted doctors and other staff who reached there in five minutes.
Fire brigade personnel rescued seven babies from the ‘inbound ward’ of the unit but could not save the 10 other babies, the report added.
“Ten children died in a fire that broke out at Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital at 2 am today. Seven children were rescued from the unit,” Civil Surgeon Dr Pramod Khandate was quoted.
The cause of the fire in the four-storeyed building is not known but could have been the result of an electrical short circuit.
Extremely tragic: Rahul Gandhi on Maharashtra fire incident
Terming the incident “unfortunate”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “The unfortunate incident of fire at Bhandara District General Hospital in Maharashtra is extremely tragic.”
“My condolences to the families of the children who lost their lives,” he added.
Gandhi also appealed to the Maharashtra Government to provide every possible assistance to the families of the injured and deceased.
