Indian police arrest hospital boss after six babies die in fire

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.

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.”