In an extremely heartbreaking incident, ten newborns lost their lives after the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College was engulfed with fire. While prima facie the fire was triggered by a short circuit, a proper investigation is yet to take place.
According to the media reports, the fire extinguishers used in an attempt to control the fire that broke out in the NICU of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in UP’s Jhansi, ‘did not work’ because they were expired – an expiry date of two years ago was mentioned on the extinguisher.
An eyewitness also claimed that the fire extinguisher did not work and the fire could not be controlled, resulting in the death of ten babies. The fire extinguisher, which the authorities claim were refilled in June and used by the ward boy, bears expiry details and the date mentioned on it is 24th July, 2022.
The safety alarms that should have gone off after a fire, did not go off and were dysfunctional and the people could not be warned. Construction was going on around the concerned area and so the evacuation process was delayed; the fire alarms were also non-functional.
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.
In a post on ‘X’, President Murmu has condoled the death of the ten babies and has prayed for recovery of those injured. The post read, “The news of the death of several newborn babies in the accident at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh is extremely heartbreaking. May God give strength to the bereaved parents and families to bear this cruel blow. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured babies.”
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