Prez Murmu, Rajnath Singh express grief over loss of lives in Jhansi Hospital fire

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed their condolences following a tragic fire at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

President Murmu, addressing the incident on social media platform X, wrote, “The news of the death of several newborn babies in the accident at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh is extremely heartbreaking. May God give strength to the bereaved parents and families to bear this cruel blow. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured babies.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also shared his grief on X, stating, “I am deeply saddened to learn about the death of newborn children in the accident that took place at the medical college in Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh). I express my condolences to their families, and I also pray to God for the speedy recovery of the injured children.”

Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Brajesh Pathak inspected the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi where at least 10 children were killed and 16 are battling for their lives after the massive fire broke out at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Friday night.

Taking to social media platform X, Brajesh Pathak stated, “Today I inspected the unfortunate fire accident in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi and gave necessary instructions to the officials. During this, Principal Secretary, Medical and Health in Uttar Pradesh, Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma and other officials were present.”

The fire, possibly due to a short circuit, broke out in the NICU of the medical college in Jhansi.

According to hospital officials, there were 54 infants admitted to the NICU ward, and as many as 45 infants were rescued.

"There were 54 babies admitted in the NICU ward. Suddenly a fire broke out inside the Oxygen concentrator. Efforts to douse the fire were made but since the room was highly oxygenated, the fire spread quickly. Many babies were rescued. 10 babies have died, and injured babies are undergoing treatment," said Chief Medical Superintendent at Jhansi Medical College, Sachin Mahor.

Doctors and medical staff evacuated patients by breaking the windows of the ward filled with smoke before fire brigade officials reached the spot.

"As per the staff present in the ward, the fire broke out at around 10.35 P.M. The fire broke out in one of the two units of the children's ward possibly due to a short circuit. The children who were in the outer part of the NICU were rescued, along with some of those who were in the interior part. We have formed a committee to probe the cause of the fire. While most of the children were rescued, as per initial information, 10 children were killed in the accident," said Avinash Kumar, District Magistrate of Jhansi.

Six fire engines were used to put out the blaze.

As per the instructions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and Principal Health Secretary Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma reached Jhansi.

CM Adityanath has also instructed the Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Inspector General of Police of Jhansi to submit a report regarding the tragic fire incident within 12 hours.

In a post on X, CM Adityanath also offered condolences to the families of the deceased babies.

"The death of children in an accident that occurred in the NICU of the medical college located in Jhansi district is extremely sad and heartbreaking. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to provide salvation to the departed souls and speedy recovery to the injured," he wrote on X.

"The district administration and concerned officials have been instructed to speed up the relief and rescue operations," CM Adityanath said.