Ten children died and several others were injured in a fire incident in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi here in Uttar Pradesh, police sources said here on Saturday.
Police sources said that the incident took place late on Friday night when the fire broke out in the NICU ward. The staff and people present there took out as many children as they could. As soon as the information about the accident was received, the hospital administration, rescue team, and fire brigade tenders reached the spot. The situation was so severe that the babies were taken out by breaking the window panes.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who kept a close vigil on the incident throughout the night, has directed the Divisional Commissioner of Jhansi and DIG to submit a report within 12 hours. An ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh is being provided to the kin of deceased infants and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the CM Relief Fund. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while condoling the incident, has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF for the next of kin of each deceased in the mishap in UP. The injured would be given Rs 50,000.
The PM wrote on X, "Heartbreaking! The fire accident at Jhansi Medical College in Uttar Pradesh is heart wrenching. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this immense loss. The local administration, under the supervision of the state government, is making every possible effort for relief and rescue."
District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said that the staff present in the NICU of the medical college, prima facie, this ward has two parts, the inside unit for more critical children and the outside unit for less critical infants.
He said, "The fire broke out at around 10:30 pm in the inside unit, probably due to a short circuit. Almost all the children from the outside unit have been rescued. Many children were also rescued from the inside unit, but prima facie 10 children died. The fire brigade and rescue team reached the spot in time. The seriously injured are being treated."
Meanwhile, the CM wrote on X, "The death of children in an accident that took place in the NICU of the Medical College located in Jhansi is extremely sad and heartbreaking. The district administration and the concerned officials have been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to grant salvation to the departed souls and speedy recovery to the injured."
As soon as the information about the incident was received, Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak rushed to Jhansi on the directive of CM Yogi. "This accident is very unfortunate, which the government has taken very seriously. 10 children have died in the incident, and we are identifying the children along with the family members and finding out whose children have died tragically," he said.
Pathak said that a three-tier investigation will be conducted into this accident. "The first will be at the government level, which will be done by the health department. The second investigation will be done at the police administration and district level, which will also include the fire department team. The third investigation will be at the magisterial level. The reasons for the incident will be found out in every situation, and the reasons will be put before the public as earliest as the reports are received," he said.
He said, "If negligence is found at any level, responsibility will be fixed, no one will be spared. The entire government stands with the families of the children. I am personally very sad about this incident and have been in constant touch with the administration since getting the information. It is our responsibility to provide good health to the children."
He said that a fire safety audit was done in February and a mock drill was also done in June, but despite this, why and how this incident happened, the government will be able to say this only after the complete investigation report comes out.
"At present, we have 17 children; four private hospitals have taken them to Vatsalya, three to Matritva and one to Lalitpur and one to Mauranipur; six children are here with their mothers. Out of 10 deceased children, seven have been identified, and efforts are being made to identify the remaining three, " he added.
The Deputy CM said, "We are unable to contact six family members as their mobiles are switched off. We are trying to contact them at their residence and get information about the children. The government is with the victims, and full financial help will be provided. The children who cannot be identified will be handed over to their families after DNA testing."
Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) Sachin Mahor said that 54 children were admitted in the NICU ward, out of which 10 children died, but the rest of the children have been safely rescued and are being treated in the emergency.
When this tragic accident happened, Pawan Rajput said that his three-day-old nephew was also admitted in the NICU ward, and he died in this horrific accident.Chief Fire Officer Rajkishore Rai, Commissioner Vimal Dubey, DIG Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP Sudha Singh, CO Sadar Sneha Tiwari, Additional District Magistrate Revenue and Finance Varun Pandey reached the spot along with the District Magistrate.
