Six newborns killed after major fire breaks out at a children’s hospital in Delhi
NEW DELHI, MAY 26: At least six newborns have died after a massive fire broke out at a children’s hospital in the Vivek Vihar area of East Delhi on Saturday night. A senior police officer said the fire broke out at the ‘Baby Care New Born Hospital’ and its adjacent building at around 11:30 pm on Saturday.
According to officials, a total of 12 infants were rescued, out of which six have died and five others have been admitted to a hospital for further treatment. One of the rescued infants had died prior to the fire accident.
As per a fire officer, the fire was extinguished completely and the rescued newborns were taken to the East Delhi Advance NICU hospital.
After the fire, 12 babies were rescued and taken to another hospital where 6 were declared brought dead. One had died before the fire incident. pic.twitter.com/Sb7s5DBjjL
Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg informed that they received a call regarding the fire at a baby care hospital at 11.32 pm, following which nine fire tenders were immediately pressed into service.
“A fire call from the Baby Care Centre, near ITI, Block B of the Vivek Vihar area, was received. A total of nine fire tenders were dispatched,” Garg said.
By the time firemen reached the spot, the building had been engulfed in flames. Yet the firemen and the police personnel rescued 12 infants from the building and took them to a nearby hospital in east Delhi. According to the fire officials, it took them around 70 minutes to control the inferno.
According to DFS chief Garg, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Sharing more details, DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Chaudhary said there were 12 newborns admitted to the hospital and one more had already died even before the fire broke out.
“All 12 new-born babies were rescued from the hospital with the help of other people and shifted to the East Delhi Advance NICU hospital in Vivek Vihar for treatment. Out of these babies, 6 were declared brought dead,” Chaudhary said.
He said that all seven bodies, including one who had already died even before the fire incident, were further shifted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital for a postmortem.
The DCP added that appropriate legal action is being taken against the hospital’s owner, identified as Naveen Kichi.
Fire Officer Rajesh, said, “At 11:32 pm, Fire Service Control Room received information that fire broke out at a hospital…total 16 fire tenders reached the spot and fire has been extinguished completely. 2 buildings were affected by the fire, one is the hospital building and 2 floors of a residential building on the right side also caught fire…11–12 people were rescued and they were taken to hospital. Further details will be shared later.”
The incident comes on a day when at least 27 people were killed in Gujarat’s Rajkot city when a massive fire swept through a crowded game zone and the building collapsed.
-PTI
