Maharashtra: Ten newborn babies die in Bhandara hospital fire

Ten newborn babies died afterfire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of a hospitalin Maharashtra in the wee hours on Saturday, doctors said.

All the infants were between a month and three monthsold, a doctor said.

Fire broke out in the Bhandara district hospital ataround 2 am, he said. There were 17 babies in the unit andseven were rescued, he added.

Another doctor said a nurse first noticed smoke comingout from the neonatal section of the hospital and alerteddoctors 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 otherbabies, he said.

The cause of the fire in the four storeyed building isnot known but could have been the result of an electricalshort circuit, he said.