Jhansi: As a safety measure, the injured and other newborn children have been shifted to different wards after at least 10 children were killed in a devastating fire on Friday in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NIC) of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi.
One of the largest hospitals in the Bundelkhand region saw horrific scenes of screams and rescue operations soon after the fire broke out at the hospital. The worried parents, family members and relatives kept waiting anxiously to know the health status of the children. Many of them ran out of patience as doctors did not allow them to go inside, fearing infection.
An official said after the horrifying fire incident, the rescued children have been shifted to Ward no 5. Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak, who rushed to Jhansi on Saturday morning, said a total of 49 children were in the ward, which has a capacity of only 18 beds.
Earlier, District Magistrate (DM) Avinash Kumar said the fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, possibly from an electrical short circuit.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took serious note of the incident and asked officials of the district administration to ensure proper treatment of the injured. PM Narendra Modi, who condoled the death of children, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PMO said.
“Heartbreaking! The fire accident at Jhansi Medical College in Uttar Pradesh is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to those who lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this immense loss,” Modi was quoted as saying in a post on X by the PMO.
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