10 infants die in Bhandara hospital fire
As many as ten newborn babies died after a fire broke out at a hospital in Maharashtra. According to the details, the fire was reported in the Special Newborn Care Unit of a hospital, in the wee hours on Saturday. All the infants were between a month and three months old, a doctor said. The fire broke out in the Bhandara district hospital at around 2 am, he said. There were 17 babies in the unit and seven were rescued, he added.
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, he said.
The cause of the fire in the four-storeyed building is not known but could have been the result of an electrical short circuit, he said.
Expressing grief over the fire incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said we have lost precious young lives. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives."
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today said he spoke to Health Minister Rajesh Tope as well as District Collector and Superintendent of Police of Bhandara district over the fire incident in District General Hospital.
He has also ordered a probe, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed.
Commenting on the incident, the leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said, "I demand an immediate probe in the fire incident at Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital. I have also asked the government to take strict action against the culprits."
