10 infants killed in Jhansi hospital fire

LUCKNOW: A fire at the neonatal unit of an Indian hospital killed 10 newborns, authorities said Saturday, with another 39 rescued from a blaze blamed on a faulty oxygen machine.

Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and a routine disregard for safety regulations. The fire broke out at about 10:30 pm (1700 GMT) on Friday night at the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical College in Jhansi, around 450 kilometres (280 miles) south of New Delhi’s capital.

Footage from the scene showed charred beds and walls inside the ward as a crowd of anguished families waited outside. “My child has gone forever,” one mother wailed as she clutched her head in grief.

Babies rescued from the fire, all only days old, were moved to a new unit inside the hospital where staff were caring for them. “Ten infants have unfortunately died despite our best efforts,” Doctor Narendra Sengar, the principal of a medical college attached to the hospital, told AFP. Sengar said all 39 other babies in the ward had been rescued and were in good health, contradicting earlier media reports that 16 had been critically injured. “The postmortem examinations of the babies are being carried out.