A horrific fire that broke out late Friday night in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College tragically killed 10 new born babies and left 16 children battling for their lives. The incident occurred around 10.45 pm, with initial reports suggesting an electrical short circuit.
There were 54 children admitted in the NICU, 44 new born babies were rescued and seven of the 10 babies who died in the fire have been identified. Deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak, who visited the fire site early today morning, said a total of 49 children were in the ward, which only had a capacity of 18 beds. He said efforts are underway to determine the identities of the victims and reach their families.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the parents of the babies who died and Rs 50,000 for the injured babies’ families. The UP government has also launched a probe – the Divisional Commissioner and DIG of Jhansi must submit a report about the incident within 12 hours.
It’s believed that the fire started due to a short circuit in an oxygen concentrator, it spread rapidly because of the highly oxygenated environment in the NICU.
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PM Modi Says Hospital Fire Heartbreaking
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to condole the death of the babies. He said the fire accident at Jhansi Medical College in Uttar Pradesh is heart-wrenching.
PM Modi highlighted that the local administration, under the supervision of the state government is making every possible effort for relief and rescue.
