Babies killed in hospital fire | Braving fire, relatives save many newborns at Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College
They say they rescued 20 babies amid the inferno and chaos in the hospital; they started picking up children and handing them outside the Neonatal ICU; family members of the dead and surviving babies stage a protest demanding DNA tests of all children for identification; many inconsolable
by Mehul Malpani · The HinduKripal Singh had entered the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College with his daughter after she was called in to breastfeed her newborn, when he saw a nurse running outside with one of her legs on fire.
Mr. Singh, along with two other nurses, immediately rushed inside to bring as many children to safety as they could. His grandchild was among the lucky few who escaped.
“One madam was screaming and running when I entered the room. She was shouting that a fire had broken out. There were more nurses so we just started picking up children in whatever condition they were and handing them outside. We brought out about 20 children,” Mr. Singh said.
At least 10 infants died in a fire at the NICU of the Uttar Pradesh government-run medical college on Friday night. While 16 other children who received critical injuries are currently under treatment, one child is still missing.
Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, Chief Medical Officer, Jhansi, told The Hindu that all the 10 deceased children had been identified. “Their bodies have been handed over to their respective families after the post-mortem examinations,” he said.
Dr. Pandey said one child was still missing. “But now we suspect that the family had taken the child home before the incident and perhaps the records could not be updated,” he said.
The lucky few
Kuldeep Singh’s 15-day-old child was among those who sustained burns.
Mr. Kuldeep rescued five-six children on Friday night. His own son, however, was nowhere to be found until Saturday evening. “Some other woman had rescued my child and admitted him to a different ward. My wife was constantly crying since last evening. A senior doctor called us in the evening for identification. That’s when we found our child,” Mr. Kuldeep told The Hindu. He recognised his child from a mole on his right ear. His baby is being treated for burns on his hand.
Sanjana Devi, aunt of the injured infant, recalled the horrific scenes after the fire. “I saw 10-15 burnt children being brought out in front of my eyes. There was fire in the entire room,” said Ms. Devi, a resident of Parsaha village of Mahoba district.
Doctors to the rescue
Dr. Amit Singh, a PG resident in the surgery department, said he had received a message on a WhatsApp group about the fire and he and his colleagues immediately rushed to the spot.
“As soon as we reached there, I grabbed a torch from a security guard while one of my colleagues took his gamcha (scarf) to cover his face. We immediately entered the affected room to save children,” he said, adding that he and his colleagues managed to bring out seven children safely.
His colleague, Ahmad Faraz Shamsi, said the high oxygen concentration in the NICU may have worsened the fire. “That room is always highly oxygenated to help the infants breathe easily. I think that maybe be the reason why the fire spread so fast,” said Dr. Shamsi, who joined Dr. Singh in the rescue efforts.
Anshul Yadav, whose child is admitted in Ward number 5 of the hospital, said the heat and smoke were so intense that people could not stand near the building.
“I had gone to the pharmacy to get some medicines for my child when I saw many women running with their children and shouting about fire breaking out. When I got there, it was just black smoke and heat everywhere. Many people tried to enter but nobody could until the firefighters arrived,” Mr. Yadav, who hails from Jhansi’s Dimrauni village, said.
Inconsolable families
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the medical college throughout the day with family members of deceased and surviving children staging a protest demanding DNA tests on all children for identification. Parents of the deceased children kept waiting inside the medical college as the children could only be identified by late evening. While mothers wept inconsolably and some of them even fainted, the fathers and other family members ran around to take care of the formalities.
Dr. Pandey said the DNA samples of the deceased children had been collected, and if required, the DNA test of the surviving children would be done to reassure the parents.
Published - November 16, 2024 10:18 pm IST