Jhansi Fire Tragedy: Another Newborn Dies, Toll Mounts To 12

A high-level team under DG (health) Kinjal Singh inspected the spot and will investigate three aspects-- reason for fire, negligence of staff and medical infra.

Jhansi: Another child died on Sunday, the third day of the tragic fire incident in the state-run Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, taking the toll to 12. However, the administration denied any connection between the death and the incident.

The atmosphere remains gloomy in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the hospital as late on Sunday night, the son of Vishal and Muskan of Jalaun district died. The child's grandmother Guddi Devi said her daughter-in-law gave birth to a male child on November 12 in Jalaun Medical College. Due to difficulty in breathing, she was admitted to the NICU of Jhansi Medical College at night. A lot of negligence was noticed during her treatment. The newborn was on oxygen support. When the fire broke out, all the children were taken out of the NICU but the condition of the newborn deteriorated due to the dearth of oxygen, hastening his death.

Deepu, the child's uncle said Vishal was paralysed two days before the child was born, impairing his mobility. Deepu was with the child when the fire broke out and rescued many children on the fateful night.

A four-member team formed by the state government under the chairmanship of the directorate general of medical education, Kinjal Singh, investigated the entire spot minutely, followed by a visit to Ward No. 5 where the children are currently being treated and enquired about their condition.

Singh said the investigation would be conducted on three points -- What is the main reason for the incident? Did the incident happen due to someone's mistake? Is there any deficiency in all the medical colleges that such incidents may occur in future?

There are experts from the fire and electricity department on the investigation team, who will conduct a technical investigation of the incident. A review meeting is being held in the guest house of the medical college where all the officers and employees related to the incident are being questioned one by one.

The high-level probe committee doesn't comprise any officer from the district. Only the principal of the medical college N S Sengar, CMS Sachin Mahor, doctor Chaurasia and other officers and employees related to the incident are present in the review.