Three newborn babies died after a fire broke out inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Women’s Hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati during the early hours of Monday.
The fire reportedly erupted at around 3.30 am on the hospital’s third floor. Preliminary information suggests that the blaze may have started following an explosion involving a ventilator inside the neonatal unit. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established.
At the time of the incident, around 39 newborns were reportedly receiving treatment in the NICU. As flames and smoke spread through the unit, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff immediately began evacuating the infants.
The emergency response by the hospital staff helped rescue several babies from the affected ward. However, three newborns sustained severe burn injuries and subsequently died.
Six other infants were moved to the Super Speciality Hospital for further medical care. Their condition and other details about the rescued babies are awaited.
The incident has raised concerns over fire safety and the functioning of critical medical equipment inside neonatal care units. Authorities are expected to investigate how the fire started and whether any equipment malfunction contributed to the tragedy.
The Amravati incident comes shortly after a separate NICU fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara District Hospital. In that incident, three newborns suffered burn injuries after a spark from the filament of a warmer reportedly caused the equipment to catch fire.
Civil Surgeon Kanchan Dubey said at the time that 33 babies were present in the unit, with hospital staff quickly moving the remaining 30 infants to safety.
The latest Amravati tragedy has once again highlighted the risks faced by critically ill newborns in intensive-care facilities and the importance of strict fire-safety protocols in hospital NICUs.
Further information regarding the cause of the Amravati fire, the condition of the rescued infants and any official inquiry is awaited.
