Maharashtra: 10 Newborn Babies Die in Bhandara Hospital Fire

Bhandara: Ten newborn babies died after fire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of a hospital in Maharashtra in the wee hours on Saturday, doctors said.

The infants were aged between a month and three months, a doctor said.

District civil surgeon Pramod Khandate said fire broke out at the Bhandara district hospital at around 1.30 am. There were 17 babies in the unit and seven were rescued, he added.

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, he said.

Fire brigade personnel rescued seven babies from the 'inbound ward' of the unit but could not save the 10 other babies, he said.

Khandate said the ward where newborn babies are kept requires a continuous supply of oxygen. "There were fire extinguishers and staff used them while trying to douse the fire. There was too much smoke," he added.

Parents of the deceased children have been informed and the seven newborn babies rescued in the blaze have been shifted to another ward, he said.

Patients from the ICU ward, dialysis wing and labour ward (a room in a hospital set aside for childbirth) were also shifted to safety, he added.

The cause of the fire in the four-storeyed building is yet to be ascertained but could have been the result of an electrical short circuit, he said.

3 died of Burns, 7 Suffocated: Health Minister

At least three of the 10 infants died of burn injuries in the Bhandara district hospital fire while seven others died of suffocation caused

by smoke on Saturday, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said in Mumbai, adding that a probe is ordered and the guilty will not be spared.

He said Rs 5 lakh would be paid to family members of each of the deceased infant.

"The preliminary information available indicated that three infants died from burn injuries in the Bhandara district civil hospital while suffocation caused by smoke is the cause of the death of seven other infants," Tope said in a video message.

"The medical staff on duty opened the windows and doors of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit wards and shifted the infants to adjoining wards. However, they could not save the 10 infants," he said.

Tope said, "chief minister Uddhav Thackeray informed me of sanctioning Rs 5 lakh to each to the family members of the deceased infants".

"Persons responsible for this incident will not be spared. A detailed inquiry is ordered. We will try to avoid such incidents in future by learning from this tragedy," he added.