10 children killed as massive fire breaks out at hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi

Jhansi Hospital Fire: At least 10 children were killed after a massive fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, on Friday.

"Prima facie, 10 children have died in a fire at Jhansi hospital,” reported PTI, quoting District Magistrate (DM) Avinash Kumar.

Reports said that at least 40 children were rescued.

“The fire broke out at 10:30 pm (on Friday) following which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot,” said a police official.

Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined, officials said that the fire likely broke out due to a short circuit.

The officials from the fire brigade team and senior officers are at the spot and a rescue operation is underway.

“We have formed a committee to probe the cause of the fire,” NDTV quoted Kumar as saying.

Chief Medical Superintendent says:

Stating that there were 54 babies admitted to the NICU ward, Chief Medical Superintendent Sachin Mahor said, “The fire broke out inside the Oxygen concentrator. Efforts were made to douse the blaze, but since the room was highly oxygenated, the fire spread quickly.”

Mahor added that many babies were rescued. "10 babies have died. Injured babies are undergoing treatment."

Yogi Adityanath expresses grief

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the fire incident and expressed condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased children.

"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. The district administration and concerned officials have been instructed to speed up the relief and rescue operations," said Yogi Adityanath in a post on X.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, also the state's health minister, said that he has instructed the district administration and the concerned officials to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing.  

Pathak added that he was rushing to hospital.

Meanwhile, IMA junior doctors network issued a statement and said that they stand committed to supporting recovery efforts and JDN MLB Jhansi college team has been mobilised and is supporting the efforts."