Hospital fire: Swift action of fire personnel saved 7 infants

Swift actions of Fire Brigadepersonnel and security guards at the Bhandara districthospital in Maharashtra saved the lives of seven infantsadmitted at the Special Newborn Care Unit following a fireincident on early Saturday, but unfortunately ten other babieswere not that lucky.

Sharing this information with reporters at Nagpurairport, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also said thatexperts at the National Fire College and the VisvesvarayaNational Institute of Technology (VNIT) in Nagpur areinvestigating the cause of the fire.

''Security guards and fire brigade personnelimmediately sprang to action and rescued seven babies from thehospital ward,'' he said, adding that the guilty will not bespared.

Speaking to reporters, former chief minister and BJPleader Devendra Fadnavis said security guards used a ladder torescue the seven infants.

''It seems the fire erupted after a spark in the airconditioner (of the hospital ward). Fortunately, seven babieswere saved as security guards rescued them using a ladder,'' hesaid.

Alleging human error as the cause behind the tragedy,Fadnavis said families of the deceased infants should becompensated with Rs 10 lakh each.

Earlier in the day, state health minister Rajesh Topetold reporters that at least three of the ten infants died ofburn injuries while seven others died of suffocation caused bysmoke in the hospital ward.

Tope said Rs 5 lakh would be paid to family members ofeach of the deceased infant.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)