Hospital fire: Maha panel starts recording statements of staff

A committee formed by theMaharashtra government to probe the Bhandara hospital fireincident in which ten newborns died the day before has startedrecording statements of the hospital staff, a senior officialsaid on Sunday.

The blaze had broken out at the Special Newborn CareUnit of the four-storeyed district hospital in Bhandara cityin east Maharashtra, about 65 kms away from Nagpur.

The Maharashtra government on Saturday announced theformation of a a six-member team headed by the director of thehealth department to probe the incident. The team was directedto submit its report within three days.

The team is headed by Nagpur Divisional CommissionerSanjiv Kumar.

The mandate of the committee is to find out the causebehind the fire and lapses, if any.

The probe team will also review the fire safetymeasures and other technical factors besides givingsuggestions to prevent recurrence of such incidents in anyhospital in the state, the official said.

''The investigation has been started in the fireincident and recording of statements (of hospital staff) isunderway,'' he told PTI.

He said the committee will submit its report at theearliest.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeraymet kin of the newborns who died in the blaze at the hospitaland said orders have been issued for conducting safety auditof all hospitals in the state.

Speaking to reporters, Thackeray said the probe willascertain if the fire was an accident or was the fallout ofignoring an earlier safety report.