MUMBAI, Jan 9, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Ten babies were killed in a maternity unit
in the Indian state of Maharashtra early Saturday when fire tore through a
major hospital, a doctor said.
Staff rescued seven of the newborn infants at the Bhandara district
hospital but were beaten back before they could get to the 10 others, Pramod
Khandate, a senior doctor, told AFP.
All of those who died were aged between a few days and three months,
according to reports.
“The cause of the fire is not known yet but our staff extinguished the
fire as soon as they could. The smoke led to the babies suffocating,”
Khandate said.
Nurses on duty noticed a fire coming from the hospital’s neonatal unit and
raised the alarm.
The fire brigade stopped the blaze from spreading to other parts of the
hospital and other patients were moved to safety.
“Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost
precious young lives,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the deaths “extremely tragic”.
Authorities ordered an immediate inquiry into the latest disaster to raise
doubts about safety in Indian hospitals. More than 90 people died in an
inferno in a Kolkata hospital in 2011.
A fire at a hospital in Ahmedabad in August killed eight coronavirus
patients. Another five Covid-19 patients died in a blaze in a clinic in
Rajkot in November.
The Supreme Court called for a report on safety in coronavirus hospitals
because of the incidents.