Maharashtra: 10 infants die after fire breaks out at newborn care unit in Bhandara hospital

In a shocking incident, ten newborn babies succumbed to fire injuries in the Maharashtra hospital in the wee hours on Saturday. According to doctors, a fire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of the Bhandara district hospital at around 2 am.

There were around 17 newborn babies in the unit when the fire broke out, of which 7 were rescued by the fire brigade team. However, ten infants who were between a month and three-months old could not be saved.

Another doctor said a nurse first noticed smoke coming out from the neonatal section of the hospital and alerted doctors and other staff who reached there in five minutes.

Fire brigade personnel rescued seven babies from the ‘inbound ward’ of the unit but could not save the 10 other babies, he said.

The cause of the fire in the four storeyed building is not known but could have been the result of an electrical short circuit, he said.