BHOPAL: At least four infants died in a fire that broke out in the special newborn care unit (SNCU) of Kamla Nehru Children's Hospital here on Monday night, prompting the government to order a high-level probe into the incident.
According to an official, the blaze started on the third floor of the hospital, which houses the ICU.
Earlier, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted that three children died at the children's ward of Kamla Nehru Hospital in Bhopal following an incident of fire. The CM has also ordered a high-level enquiry into the incident.
"There were 40 children in the ward out of which 36 are safe. Ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be given to parents of each deceased," Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang told ANI.
The fire broke out around 9 pm and around 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames, said Fatehgarh fire station in-charge Juber Khan.
Fire brigade officials said that Ratnesh, a hospital employee, alerted the control room at 8.40pm about the fire on the third floor. A dozen fire engines rushed to the site, along with teams from Koh-e-Fiza police station.
Smoke engulfed the building, triggering panic among patients’ relatives, who rushed in to save them. Chaos broke out in the darkened, smoke-filled building and security staff forced the patients’ relatives out, triggering anger. They kept arguing and pleading with police to be allowed in to check on their babies.
“The flames and burning wires caused chaos, and smog engulfed the floor,” said Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) fire officer Rameshwar Neel. An electrical short-circuit is being suspected as the cause of the fire, he added.
Parents take their babies out from Kamala Nehru Hospital after a fire in the paediatric care unit
The flames were doused around midnight. The children and six adults were shifted to other wards. Some nurses and staff are believed to have suffered smoke inhalation. Till midnight, many of the patients’ kin were seen waiting outside the hospital, awaiting news of their children.
SP (north) Vijay Khatri said the fire was quickly brought under control with the help of 25 fire-tenders from Fatehgarh, Bairagarh and Shahjehanabad stations. “Children from PICU have been shifted to another ward,” said Khatri.
