10 babies killed as fire breaks out at Jhansi hospital, over 35 rescued

PTC News Desk: Ten babies were killed in a massive fire that broke out at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi on Friday evening. The number of casualties is likely to go up, said an official.

A fire broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi, probably due to a short circuit. Doctors and medical professionals were seen evacuating patients by breaking the windows of the smoke-filled hospital before fire officials arrived.

"According to the staff present in the ward, the fire broke out at about 10.35 p.m. Thirty-seven children have been successfully rescued. The fire started in one of the children's ward's two units, most likely due to a short circuit. The children in the NICU's outer area were rescued, as were some of those on the inside. We've set up a committee to investigate the cause of the fire. While the majority of the children were saved, 10 children died in the accident," Avinash Kumar, Jhansi district magistrate.

At the time of the tragedy, 54 children had been admitted to the NICU, 44 of whom were rescued. Brajesh Pathak, Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief minister and minister of medical education, said that seven of the ten victims have been identified.

Visuals taken outside the medical college showed panicked patients and attendants, even as a huge number of police officers assisted with rescue and relief efforts. Several charred pieces of medical equipment were found within the affected ward.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took note of the unfortunate accident and conveyed his condolences to the victims' families. "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.