LUCKNOW, India: A fire at the neonatal unit of an Indian hospital killed 10 newborns, authorities said on Saturday (Nov 16), with another 39 rescued from a blaze that is blamed on a faulty oxygen machine.
Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and a routine disregard for safety regulations.
The fire broke out at about 10.30pm (5pm GMT) on Friday night at the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical College in Jhansi, around 450km south of the capital New Delhi.
Footage from the scene showed charred beds and walls inside the ward as a crowd of anguished families waited outside.
“My child has gone forever,” one mother wailed as she clutched her head in grief.
Babies rescued from the fire, all only days old, were moved to a new unit inside the hospital where staff were caring for them.
“Ten infants have unfortunately died despite our best efforts,” doctor Narendra Sengar, the principal of a medical college attached to the hospital, told AFP.
Sengar said all 39 other babies in the ward had been rescued and were in good health, contradicting earlier media reports that 16 had been critically injured.
“The postmortem examinations of the babies are being carried out. The 39 infants who have been rescued are unscathed,” he added.
Doctors and staff on duty had rushed to the rescue of the babies “without caring for their own lives”, he said.
“Thanks to them we could save 39 babies. They are the real heroes.”
Police superintendent Gyanendra Kumar Singh said the fire likely started in a piece of machinery used to enrich the oxygen level in the atmosphere.
“All children rescued are safe and getting medical attention,” Singh told AFP.
