In a shocking incident, ten infants — aged between one and three months — were killed in the wee hours of Saturday, when a massive fire broke out in a Government hospital at Bhandara in eastern Maharashtra.
The fire — triggered prima facie by a short-circuit — broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the District General Hospital at Bhandara at around 1.30 am.
Before long, fire and smoke engulfed the new born care unit. A nurse who was among the two nurses and one helper present at that time in the NICU raised an alarm, prompting other nurses, doctors and other hospital members to rush to the scene.
Of the 17 trapped infants, seven were rescued, while the remaining ten children died on the spot. “There were 17 infants at the NICU at the time of the incident. Of them, seven were rescued and have been admitted to another. We have no plans to shift them to another hospital as yet,” District Civil Surgeon Dr Pramod Khandate said.
“Most infants died due to suffocation. While one male child suffered fatal burn injuries, the two others had minor burns injuries. The rest of the children had inhaled a lot of smoke,” Khandate said.
As the rescue operations, the patients from the ICU, Dialysis Wing and Labour Ward were shifted to safety.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that while seven infants died due to suffocation, three children succumbed to burns. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the infants killed in the fire.
Meanwhile, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Tope and health authorities, took stock of the situation and ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. He said that the inquiry would fix the responsibility for those responsible for the incident.
“We are going through the Covid-19 pandemic situation. While fighting the Coronavirus, the health administration and team of hospitals should not ignore safety and security issues,” Uddhav said.
The Chief Minister said that to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future, fire and electrical audits should be carried out a all hospitals. “I have directed the officials to ascertain if such audits have been done at all the hospitals in the state,” he said. Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar charged that the NICU where the mishap took place was inaugurated in 2016 (when the BJP-led government was ruling the state) without requisite fire safety clearance. “We will find out why that was done,” he said.
Describing the incident as “unfortunate”, Wadettiwar said: “We have asked the National Fire Safety College and Visveswaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, to send teams to look into the circumstances leading to the mishap within 15 days. We will not spare anyone found responsible for the incident”.
Wadettiwar said that the state government would also try to find out as to why a proposal to install fire equipment remained unimplemented since May last year.
In a related development, President President Ram Nath Kovind led the nation in mourning the shocking death of 10 infants. “I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of infants in a fire accident in Bhandara, Maharashtra. My heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their children in this heart-wrenching event,” he said.
Describing the Bhandara incident as “heart-wrenching”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “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 as early as possible”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “The fire accident in Bhandara district hospital, Maharashtra is very unfortunate. I am pained beyond words. My thoughts and condolences are with bereaved families. May God give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss”.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “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. I appeal to Maha Govt to provide every possible assistance to the families of the injured & deceased,” Gandhi tweeted.
“Extremely saddened to know about the most tragic incident of fire at Bhandara Civil Hospital. Convey my deepest condolences to the families of the innocent children who lost their lives,” Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari said.
Former chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said: “The incident that took place at the Bhandara hospital is heart-wrenching. We are with those families whose children were killed in the mishap. My appeal to the state government is for a speedy inquiry into the incident and bringing to the culprits to book at the quickest possible time”.