4 days ago
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[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Ten newborn babies are dead and at least 16 more are in critical condition after a fire rushed through a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a hospital in India.
According to the BBC and others, a vicious and relentless fire ripped through the NICU birth ward at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Hospital in the city of Jhansi in India’s Uttar Pradesh state on Friday. As of the latest reports from the scene, ten babies are confirmed to have been killed with at least 16 more currently fighting for their lives in critical condition. In total, 55 infants are being treated for burns, smoke inhalation, and other injuries related to the devastating fire. OMG…
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While it’s unclear exactly what started the fire, the Associated Press reports that errors in safety protocols — including expired fire extinguishers and fire alarms that were possibly not working — may have caused the incident to balloon in intensity and develop into such a terrible tragedy.
Regardless, per that same news outlet, deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state Brajesh Pathak claimed that the hospital’s fire systems were inspected back in February, and the hospital held a practice fire drill as recently as June. Speaking to The Guardian, Pathak delivered further comments on the matter:
“The cause of the fire will be probed. If any lapses are found, strict action will be taken against those responsible and no one will be spared.”
One unnamed mother spoke to the Indian media agency ANI News regarding the loss of her 10-day-old child:
“When the fire broke out, I couldn’t go inside to rescue my baby. How could I? When no one was able to get inside, how could anyone hand me my baby?”
And another father, identified by the AP as Naresh Kumar, spoke to the media about losing his baby, too:
“If the safety alarm had worked, we could have acted sooner and saved more lives.”
As for the Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already spoken out about the awful situation. Posting on X (Twitter) about the tragedy, Modi shared:
“My deepest condolences to those who have lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this immense loss. The local administration, under the supervision of the state government, is making every possible effort for relief and rescue.”
You can learn more about this unfathomable and heartbreaking incident (below):
Just awful. We can’t even imagine what those babies must have gone through — and what their parents must now deal with for the rest of their lives.
[Image via Universal Pictures/YouTube]
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