Maharashtra: Ten newborn babies perish in hospital fire in Bhandara

In a horrific tragedy, tennewborn babies died after a fire broke out at the neo-natalcare ward of the district general hospital at Bhandara ineastern Maharashtra in the early hours of Saturday.

The staff managed to rescue seven of the 17 babies inthe ward.

While the cause was suspected to be a short circuit ora malfunctioning air-conditioning unit and the state govermentordered probe by fire experts, a BJP leader alleged that therewere complaints about power flucuations in the ward but noaction was taken.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said a six-membercommittee headed by director, Health, Sadhana Tayade willconduct an inquiry and submit a report in three days.

Those responsible shall not be spared, chief ministerUddhav Thackeray said. A fire audit of all the hospitals inthe state has been ordered, he informed.

Calling the incident ''heart-wrenching and mind-numbing'', Thackeray announced aid of Rs 5 lakh for familymembers of deceased babies.

The deceased infants -- eight girls and two boys --were aged between one month and three months, and most of themwere admitted to the ward for being underweight, a doctorsaid.

One of the deceased baby boys had been found abandonedin a remote area of the district and admitted to the hospitallast week. In a cruel twist of fate, the unnamed child becamethe victim of fire.

Minister Tope told reporters that three of the teninfants died of burn injuries while seven others died ofsuffocation caused by smoke.

According to doctors, the blaze erupted in the SpecialNewborn Care Unit of the hospital around 1.30 am.

District civil surgeon Pramod Khandate said a nursenoticed smoke coming out from the neo-natal section -- whichneeds continuous oxyygen supply -- and alerted doctors andother staff who rushed there and tried to douse flames withfire extinguishers before fire brigade arrived.

They managed to rescued seven children from smoke-filled ward but ten others perished in the tragedy, he said.

The cause of the fire in the four-storey building isyet to be ascertained but could be short circuit, he said.

Shubhangi Sathavne and Smita Ambilduke, the two nurseswho were on night duty, said they heard explosion-like soundsin the neo-natal ward.

''When we rushed inside, smoke filled up nose and eyes.

We could not see anything, but heard glass shattering. Weraised alarm and with the help of security guards and firebrigade staff rescued seven of the children,'' they said.

''The government has ordered a high-level probe to findout if a short circuit or the air conditioner malfunctioningwas the reason,'' said state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

Experts of National Fire Service College and theVisvesvaraya National Institute of Technology will conductinvestigation, he said.

Former Maharashtra energy minister ChandrashekharBawankule of the BJP claimed that relatives of the infants hadcomplained about power fluctuations in the ward last week.

''The relatives had asked the hospital staff to checkelectric switches etc, but apparently no action was taken,''Bawankule told PTI.

He also alleged that the hospital didn't have properfire safety equipment, and a proposal to purchase fire safetyequipment worth over Rs 1 crore sent to the health departmentwas pending for approval.

Photographs from the ward showed blackened walls,floor thick with ash, and charred furniture.

Unbearable pain was seen in the eyes of parents ofdeceased children as they grappled with the calamity.

''We had not even named our daughter and now we havegot her burnt dead body,'' said Vishwanath Behere, a labourer,as his wife sobbed.

Vandana Shedam (28) said she lived in the hospitalitself as her seven-day-old daughter was admitted to theneo-natal ward for being underweight.

''We came to know about the fire around 2 am but had noidea of the condition of my baby till 8 in the morning. Thenthey put her burnt body before me,'' she said, weeping.

The tragedy evoked condolences from President Ram NathKovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader RahulGandhi and others.

''Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra,where we have lost precious young lives. My thoughts are withall the bereaved families. I hope the injured recover as earlyas possible,'' Modi tweeted.

In his tweet posted in Hindi, President Kovind said,''I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of infants in afire accident in Bhandara, Maharashtra. My heartfeltcondolences to the families who lost their children in thisheart-wrenching event.'' Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Maharashtra government toprovide all possible assistance to the families of thedeceased and the injured. The Congress is a constituent in theShiv Sena-led state government.

Terming the death of ten infants a ''very painful''incident, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavisdemanded a thorough probe.