Indian police arrest hospital boss after six babies die in fire

By AFP
May 28, 2024
Relatives of infant victims gesture as they wait to identify them a day after a fire broke out at a children’s hospital in New Delhi on May 26, 2024. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Monday they had arrested a doctor and the owner of an unlicensed hospital where six newborn babies died in a fire in a crowded ward without fire exits.

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The blaze broke out at the New Born Baby Care hospital in New Delhi´s Vivek Vihar area late on Saturday evening.

In the crucial first minutes, it was bystanders who spotted the fire and braved the blaze to rescue the newborns inside. “We didn´t even name her... I never even held her in my arms,” Anjar Khan, whose 11-day-old daughter died in the blaze, was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

Vinod Sharma, who lost his day-old baby boy, blamed the hospital authorities for the tragedy. “He had a problem with breathing. The doctor had said that he will be fine in a few days,” Sharma was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper. “We didn´t know that the hospital would kill him.”

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