At least 10 newborn babies were killed in a fire that engulfed a neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
The fire broke out at about 10.45pm (local time) on Friday at the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi city, where 49 infants were being treated.
Local authorities said 38 other babies were rescued, with 16 of them in critical condition. “Seven bodies have been identified. Three bodies haven’t been identified as yet,” the state’s deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak told reporters.
Local authorities said all doctors were pressed into action to save the critically injured 16 infants. One infant remained missing, a government official, who did not wish to be named told Reuters.
The locals and staff broke the windows to rescue the infants from the neonatal care unit, according to reports. An investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the fire, the police said.
A woman who lost her child told reporters outside the hospital that she couldn’t find her newborn after the fire and was informed later that the baby had died. Grief-stricken parents were seen crying and screaming in agony over the loss of the children.
The accident has raised questions over the hospital’s safety measures. While fire alarms had been installed in the intensive care unit, parents and witnesses said they did not activate during the blaze. Hospital staff acted only after they saw signs of smoke and fire.
“If the safety alarm had worked, we could have acted sooner and saved more lives,” said Naresh Kumar, a parent who lost his baby.
Akhtar Hussain, whose son was rescued and is receiving treatment in an adjacent ward, said the tragedy could have been prevented if the hospital had better safety protocols.
The deputy chief minister claimed that a fire safety audit of the hospital was conducted in February followed by a mock fire drill in June. “On how and why it happened, we can say something about it once the probe report comes,” he was quoted as saying by the NDTV.
Prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressed condolences over the “heart-wrenching” incident and offered an ex-gratia of Rs200,000 (£1,875) for the relatives of the dead and Rs50,000 (£468) for the injured.
“My deepest condolences to those who lost their innocent children in this,” Mr Modi posted on X.
President Droupadi Murmu added: “May God give strength to the bereaved parents and families to bear this cruel blow. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured babies.”
Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents. Earlier in May, seven newborn babies were killed in a fire at an unlicensed children’s hospital in Capital New Delhi in a fire incident.