Fire at Madhya Pradesh hospital kills 4 newborns

AT least four newborns died on Monday (8) after a fire broke out in the neonatal ward of a hospital in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The firefighters were, however, able to save 36 babies from Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Disturbing visuals were witnessed as parents tried to rush into the smoke-filled hospital to rescue the children.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained but according to officials, an electrical short circuit could have caused it, BBC reported.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called the incident painful and ordered an inquiry. He also announced to pay Rs 400,000 (£4000) to the victims’ families.

The fire broke out around 9 pm local time. Anxious and angry parents were seen trying to overpower the hospital’s security staff members to enter it and rescue their kids as the building plunged into darkness.

The firefighters took three hours to douse the flame.

It was only a day before on November 7 that 11 patients died in the Covid intensive care unit of a hospital in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after a fire broke out. An inquiry has been ordered to know the fire’s cause.