In the early hours of Saturday, a fire broke out in the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) at District General Hospital in Bhandara, Maharashtra, and claimed the lives of 10 newborns. The age of the deceased infants is said to be between a few days to a few months.
A total of 17 newborns were admitted to the SNCU. The hospital has a capacity of thirty-six beds. Out of the admitted 17, 7 babies were rescued by the hospital staff while 10 could not be saved due to repeated explosions. The cause of death is said to be suffocation due to smoke.
“Most of them inhaled a lot of smoke, one had fatal major burns and two had minor burn injuries”, Dr. Pramod Khandate, the Civil Surgeon quoted.
The fire was reported around 1:30 am by one of the on-duty nurses in the neonatal care unit. Post the warning by the nurse, the staff members rushed to rescue the babies. The verified cause of the fire is still unknown. However, the hospital administration states that it was probably an electric short circuit.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray condemned the incident. Following the incident, CM Thackeray spoke with the State Health Minister Rajesh Tope, the District Collector of Bhandara, and the Superintendent of Police and ordered a probe into the accident to find the probable cause of the fire. The CM has also ordered a state-wide audit for the Neonatal Care Units for safety purposes. The State also announced a compensatory amount of Rs 5 lakh to families of the dead.
Bhandara District Collector condemning the accident said, “At the time, there were two nurses and a helper in the children’s ward. They immediately raised an alarm. The fire brigade was called out. However, before it arrived, staffers tried to rescue the children and managed to save seven infants.”
The whole nation grieves with the family of the dead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted and expressed deep sorrow he wrote, “Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives. My thoughts are with all the bereaved families. I hope the injured recover at the earliest”.
The Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Dr. Harshvardhan and Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi also tweeted and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and urged the State Government to punish the culprits and to carry out the necessary precautions to avoid such type of accidents in the future.
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