Probe ordered, guilty will be punished: CM on Bhandara fire

Terming the death of ten infantsin a fire at a government hospital at Bhandara in the earlyhours of Saturday as ''heart-wrenching'', Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray said the guilty shall not be spared.

There will be no compromise on safety and a fire auditof hospitals in the state has been ordered, he said in astatement.

''It is a heart-wrenching and mind-numbing incident.

A high-level probe has been ordered and the guilty shall notbe spared,'' the chief minister said.

Experts from the Nagpur fire engineering college andofficials of the state power department are probing the exactcause of fire, Thackeray said.

A new wing for children had been opened at thehospital in 2015 and it will be probed whether a fire audit ofthe new building had been carried out, he said.

Aid of Rs 5 lakh will be given to the families ofdeceased babies, he said.

Ten newborn babies died after a fire broke out in theSpecial Newborn Care Unit of the district general hospital atBhandara in the early hours. Seven babies were rescued.

The government will ensure that rescued infants getproper treatment, the chief minister said.

Fire brigade personnel and medical staff at thehospital saved the lives of seven infants and ensured thatthe fire did not spread further, he noted.