At least 10 newborns have died in a fire at a hospital in northern India after a blaze broke out in the neonatal ward.
Staff at the hospital in Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh state were able to rescue 44 infants, but at least 16 are in a critical condition, authorities said.
When no one was able to get inside, how could anyone hand me my baby?” she told ANI news agency.
Indian media reported that the fire first sparked in the intensive care unit of the infants’ ward at around 22:30 local time (17:00 GMT).
This is the second prominent hospital fire in India in six months where newborns have been killed.
A fire in the neonatal ward of a hospital in northern India has claimed the lives of at least ten newborns.
According to the infants’ relatives who spoke to the local media, parents broke windows to get into the ward as the fire spread, causing chaos and panic as they rushed to get to their kids.
One distraught grandmother told the ANI news agency, “The nurses were pushing people out, but those who managed to get in grabbed any child they could.”.
At least 16 infants are in critical condition, despite the fact that 44 were saved by hospital staff in Uttar Pradesh state’s Jhansi district.
Some parents don’t know what happened to their children because three of the ten babies who passed away haven’t been named yet.
A new mother named Santoshi is still searching for her 10-day-old child.
“I couldn’t go inside to save my baby when the fire started. How could anyone give me my baby when nobody could enter?” she asked the ANI news agency.
An electrical malfunction is being blamed for the Friday night fire at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Hospital.
Outside the hospital, distressed parents were depicted in photos taken at the scene.
According to Indian media, the fire started in the infants’ ward’s intensive care unit at approximately 22:30 local time (17:00 GMT).
The fire was caused, according to local officials, by an electrical short circuit or some other malfunction in a machine that was used to raise the oxygen level in the ward.
“Heart-wrenching” is how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the deaths in an online statement.
“I send my sincerest sympathies to the parents who lost their defenseless children in this. “I ask God to grant them the fortitude to endure this tremendous loss,” he wrote.
Uttar Pradesh state government representatives have promised the grieving families 500,000 rupees (£4,600; $5,900) in compensation.
According to State Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, the public hospital underwent a fire drill in June and a safety review in February.
In the last six months, this is the second major hospital fire in India that has killed newborns. A private neonatal facility in Delhi experienced a fire in May that claimed the lives of six infants.
