“The nurses were pushing people out, but those who managed to get in grabbed any child they could,” a grandmother told the ANI news agency. She was describing Friday night at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Hospital in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, where a fire in the neonatal intensive care unit killed at least 10 newborns.
Indian media reported the blaze started at around 22:30 local time. District Magistrate Avinash Kumar put the start closer to 10:45 p.m. He said the more critical patients were in the interior section of the unit, where the fire spread faster.
Cause
The exact cause is still under investigation. Officials suspect a short circuit in an oxygen concentrator, a machine that raises oxygen levels in the ward. Chief Medical Superintendent Sachin Mahor told ANI there were 54 babies in the unit. “Suddenly a fire broke out inside the Oxygen concentrator,” he said. “Efforts to douse the fire were made but since the room was highly oxygenated, the fire spread quickly.”
Estimates of the rescue differ. The BBC cited authorities saying staff got 44 infants out, with at least 16 in critical condition. Mahor spoke of about 35 rescued.
Parents and the missing
Relatives told local media that panic took hold as the flames spread. Some parents broke windows to get into the ward and reach their children.
Three of the ten dead had not been identified, and some parents did not know what had become of their babies. Santoshi, a new mother, was still looking for her 10-day-old. “When the fire broke out, I couldn’t go inside to rescue my baby,” she told ANI. “How could I? When no one was able to get inside, how could anyone hand me my baby?”
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said DNA tests would be run if needed to identify the three. Seven had been named by then.
Official response
Pathak announced a multi-departmental inquiry involving administrative, police and fire officials, and said the local administration had to file a report within 24 hours. “If any lapses are found, no one will be spared,” he said. He added that a safety review of the hospital took place in February and a fire drill as recently as June. Preliminary reports pointed to lapses in fire safety, including too little fire prevention equipment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the deaths “heart-wrenching” in a post on X. President Droupadi Murmu said she prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured babies. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the district administration to speed up relief and rescue work. The state announced compensation of 500,000 rupees for the bereaved families.
Earlier fires
Business Standard listed past neonatal and children’s hospital fires in India. In Bhandara, Maharashtra, in 2021, an electrical fault in a neonatal unit killed 10 infants. A fire at Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital in Bhopal in November 2021 killed four newborns. In Delhi in May 2024, seven infants died when an unlicensed children’s hospital caught fire after an oxygen cylinder exploded.
Sources
- Ten newborns killed in hospital fire in Jhansi northern India
- Ten infants killed after fire erupts at Jhansi Medical College in UP
- 10 newborns die in Jhansi medical college fire: What is known so far
- 2024 Jhansi hospital fire
Sources
- Ten newborns killed in hospital fire in Jhansi northern India – BBC
- Ten infants killed after fire erupts at Jhansi… – Business Standard
