Ten newborn babies died in the fire that broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Bhandara District Hospital in the early hours of Saturday while seven babies were rescued by the security staff of the Hospital and fire fighters. The incident has shocked entire nation with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top leaders express their shock and grief at the loss of little lives.

 

Sources informed that at around 1 am in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, the nurse on duty noticed smoke emitting from the out born unit. As she opened the door to enter the room, she could not do so due to heavy smoke. She raised alarm and soon the security guards there entered the room and brought the babies out. In the meantime, fire brigade was also summoned and fire fighters joined the rescue operations. Seven babies were brought out to safety. However even before the help could reach them, all children being treated in the Out Born Unit had died due to extreme heat, District Civil Surgeon Pramod Khandate further informed that the ward where newborn babies are kept requires continuous supply of oxygen.

 

“There were fire extinguishers and staff used them while trying to douse the fire. There was too much smoke,” he added. He said patients from the ICU ward, dialysis wing and labour ward (a room in a hospital set aside for childbirth) were also shifted to other wards safely. The cause of the fire in the four-storey building is yet to be ascertained but could have been the result of an electric short circuit, he said. As soon as the news of the incident spread, parents and relatives of the children gathered at the hospital demanding to see their babies. Their cries were heart-wrenching and the grief unconsolable.

 

A forensic team from Nagpur and another from Electricity Department, Public Works, Nagpur, had started investigation into the incident. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanded registration of offence of culpable homicide. The unfortunate mothers who lost their newborn in the incidents are Hirkanya Hiralal Bhanarkar (Usgaon, Sakoli), Priyanka Jayant Baseshankar (Jamb, Mohadi), Yogita Vikesh Dhulse (Srinagar PAhela, Bhandara), Sushma Pandri Bhandari (Arjuni Morgaon, Gondia) , Geeta Vishwanat Behre (Bhojapur, Bhandara), Durga Vishal Rahangdale (Takla, Mohadi), Sukeshni Dharampal Aagre (Usarla, Mohadi), Kavita Barelal Kumbhare (Seetesara Aalesur, Tumsar) and Vandana Mohan Sidam (Rawanvadi, Bhandara). After completing the formalities bodies of nine infants were handed over to their parents. Priyanka Baseshankar who delivered her first child on December 12 lost her only son in the incident.

 

Similarly Sukeshani Dharampal Aagre lost her 11-day old baby and Geeta Vishwanath Behre whose premature baby was admitted to the outborn unit due to low weight and was suppose to get discharged in next two days, lost her child in the fire. The name of the mothers of the infants shifted to other safe places are Shamkala Shende, Diksha Dinesh Khandate (Twins), Anjana Yuvraj Bhonde , Chetna Chachere, Karishma Kanhaiya Meshram and Sonu Manoj Marbate.

 

 

 

TERMING the death of ten infants in a fire at a Government hospital at Bhandara in the early hours of Saturday as "heart-wrenching", Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the guilty shall not be spared. There will be no compromise on safety and a fire audit of hospitals in the state has been ordered, he said in a statement. "It is a heart-wrenching and mind-numbing incident. A high-level probe has been ordered and the guilty shall not be spared," the Chief Minister said.

 

 

 

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said the cause of the fire incident at the Bhandara district hospital in which ten infants died will be investigated by experts from the National Fire Service College (NFSC) and the VINT in Nagpur. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Deshmukh described the fire incident as unfortunate and heart-wrenching. born babies were rescued. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Deshmukh described the fire incident as unfortunate and heart-wrenching. “The Government has ordered a high-level probe to find out if a short circuit or the air conditioner malfunctioning was the reason. Experts of NFSC and the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) will conduct investigation. It will also be probed whether the fire audit was conducted at the hospital. The guilty will not be spared. The strictest possible action will be taken against the culprits,” he said. Meanwhile, terming the incident as “painful”, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said a stern punitive action will be taken against persons responsible for the blaze. The Deputy Chief Minister said the State Government has decided to give ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased infants. “A detailed inquiry has been ordered into the incident and clear instructions have been given to conduct an audit of all hospitals that are equipped with neonatal intensive care units to prevent a repeat of such incidents,” Pawar said. Given that it was a care unit, someone should have been posted on duty round the clock in the ward, the DCM said. State Social Welfare Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said it was a very sad and unfortunate incident. “Before drawing any conclusions about what triggered the fire, a detailed enquiry will be conducted into the incident. A team from National Fire Service College has arrived at the hospital to inspect the site,” Wadettiwar said. A team from VINT has also been called for inspection, he said. He further said a nurse present at the ward played an important role in rescuing seven babies from the fire. All hospitals in the State require advanced fire safety equipment and fire audits need to be conducted at all hospitals every three years, the Minister added.