Fire in Jhansi’s NICU led to the tragic death of 10 newborns, with reports highlighting ‘faulty’ fire alarms and ‘expired’ extinguishers.
Following the fire accident at Jhansi hospital that killed 10 newborns, a “defective alarm system” and “expired fire extinguishers” were discovered, according to a media report. A fire broke out at a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi on Friday night.
Families of the victims told News18 report that the lives of the 10 newborns could have been saved if the fire extinguishers were working properly.
Even the fire safety alarms were not functioning properly during the tragic incident, which delayed the hospital evacuation, the report mentioned.
According to the reports citing a man, identified as Kripal Singh Rajput, who came to see his grandson, every single bed in the infant ward was accommodating six children each, there were 18 beds in total
During his visit to the hospital, the fire broke out, and he rescued 25 newborns.
However, the government has dismissed allegations of safety lapses. UP Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak denied media reports claiming that the medical college had expired fire extinguishers.
“All firefighting equipment in the medical college was completely fine,” PTI reported quoting Pathak. He said a fire safety audit was conducted in February and a mock drill in June.
Several visuals of the accident emerged where alarmed patients and their caretakers along with police officials could be seen aiding the rescue operations.
The minister confirmed the cause of the fire saying, “The fire broke out due to a short circuit. Health Minister and state Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak reached there at night. 10 children had died there. The rest of the children are safe.”