Jhansi: Ten newborn babies admitted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College lost their lives after a massive fire broke out. The ward had over 50 babies and while at least ten have been killed, 15 others are undergoing treatment. Eyewitnesses have recalled the tragic death of the babies and have narrated harrowing details from the time of the accident.

‘Fire in NICU, Save the Babies’: Eyewitness Recall Jhansi Tragedy

The tragedy in Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College has claimed lives of 10 infants and over 15 are undergoing treatment. An eyewitness, recalling the accident, revealed how a resident doctor came rushing from the NICU screaming that a fire has broken out in the ward and the babies need to be saved; the eyewitness also revealed that the doctor’s leg had also caught fire. This is when a chaos happened to take the babies out of the ward.

‘Fire Extinguisher Did Not Work’

Shockingly, the eyewitness also revealed how when the fire broke out, fire extinguishers were used to douse the fire but unfortunately, the fire extinguishers were not working and the fire spread, killing ten babies. As per our reporters, the fire extinguishers had expired two years ago and had not been replaced with new ones. 

‘Our Baby Was Admitted for a Month, Died in the Fire’

Another woman, who lost her newborn baby in the tragic fire, revealed how the baby was admitted to the hospital for a month and had undergone a major operation yesterday after which he was admitted in the NICU. The eyewitness said, “Our newborn was admitted here for one month. Yesterday there was an operation and after that, the baby was admitted there (NCIU). Around 10 pm yesterday the fire broke out, we rushed to take out the baby but we were stopped…later we couldn’t find the baby though we looked for a long time. Later on, we were told that our baby died in the fire…my husband went and saw the baby…”

Fire at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College’s NICU, 10 Babies Killed

At least 10 children died in a fire that engulfed the children’s ward of a medical college in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district, officials said, as 16 others injured battled for life on Saturday. 

District Magistrate (DM) Avinash Kumar told reporters that the fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, possibly due to an electrical short circuit.

The children who were in the outer part of the NICU were rescued, along with some of those who were in the interior part. “Prima facie there is information of the death of 10 children,” the DM said.

Those less critical are admitted in the outer section of the NICU while the more critical patients are kept in the interior part, Kumar said. Divisional Commissioner Jhansi Bimal Kumar Dubey, who reached the hospital around midnight, told reporters that there were about 30 children in the interior section of the NICU and most of them were rescued.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jhansi Sudha Singh on Saturday said another 16 children who suffered injuries in the episode were undergoing treatment. There were over 50 children admitted in the NICU when the incident took place.

(Inputs from PTI)