Amravati NICU fire: 3 infants dead as parents, nurses recount rescue horror
A fire that tore through the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the District Women's Hospital in Maharashtra's Amravati around 3.15 am on Monday, August 24. Even as hospital staff, security guards and parents managed to rescue 36 infants from the smoke-filled ward, left three newborns died, daccording to eyewitnesses and hospital personnel.
Grieving parents alleged that fire alarms failed to sound and the ward's water-sprinkler system did not activate when the blaze broke out.
Praful Chopde, whose five-day-old son died in the fire, told reporters the alarm never went off and blamed hospital negligence for his child's death. He said his wife and newborn had been admitted on August 19, and questioned why only infants and no hospital staff were harmed. Relatives also alleged that authorities delayed action while waiting for fire tenders to arrive.
Swapnil Barge, who lost his day-old son, recalled being outside the hospital gate around 3.30 am when he heard shouting, followed by an uproar and the arrival of the fire brigade. He said he searched desperately for his wife and child before being informed hours later of the infant's death.
Yogesh Savarkar of Achalpur, whose wife and eight-day-old child were admitted to the hospital, said he was sleeping outside when the fire broke out on the first floor. He rushed upstairs and personally carried his baby to safety, recalling seeing black ash on other infants in the ward. He said security guards were the first responders on the scene, along with a nurse who also helped rescue children.
Nurses on duty in the unit, which housed nine infants at the time, said an explosion occurred in a ventilator inside the ward, which was left completely charred as flames spread.
"While the ventilator was burning, we removed the babies. I can't describe it; it was terrible. The babies were burning next to it; we rescued them, extracted the incubator and took it out and shifted them to a super speciality hospital," the nurses said. They added that visibility was extremely poor but they continued searching until every infant was accounted for and moved outside, cradles included.
The blaze, which broke out between 3 am and 3.30 am, prompted a coordinated rescue effort involving nurses, doctors, security personnel and parents. They worked through thick smoke and darkness to pull infants from cradles and incubators. Families of the affected children said they did not know the exact cause of the fire but squarely blamed the hospital administration for the tragedy, citing the alarm and sprinkler failures.
(With inputs from PTI)
