Jhansi Hospital Fire Ignited After Nurse Lit Matchstick, Claims Eyewitness; Expired Fire Extinguishers, Faulty Alarms Found

Jhansi Hospital Fire: At least 10 newborns died in Jhansi after a fire broke out in the infant ward of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College. The hospital administration said prima facie that the reason behind the fire appears to be a short circuit inside the oxygen concentrator. However, a clear picture will emerge after the hospital administration submits its report to the government. Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, stated that the incident happened because of the carelessness of the hospital administration.

According to a report by India Today, one of the eyewitnesses claimed that the fire broke out due to the negligence of a nurse. He claimed that the nurse lit a matchstick while attempting to connect the pipe of an oxygen cylinder, leading to the burst of fire. Bhagwan Das, the eyewitness, was present in the ward at the time of the incident as his son was admitted.

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"As soon as the match was lit, the whole ward caught fire," Das was quoted as saying by India Today. He further said that he saved a few children by wrapping them with a cloth that he carried. A preliminary investigation has revealed that several of the fire extinguisher cylinders in the ward were expired. The report stated that the filling date mentioned on the fire extinguisher cylinders was 2019 and the expiry was 2020. The report also pointed out that the fire alarm did not go off immediately after the fire broke out.

Earlier, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath expressed his grief over the incident and sought a detailed report from the local administration. “The death of children in an accident that occurred in the NICU of the medical college located in Jhansi district is extremely sad and heartbreaking. The district administration and concerned officials have been instructed to carry out relief and rescue operations on a war footing. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to provide salvation to the departed souls and speedy recovery to the injured,” CM Yogi said in a post on X.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid condolences to the dead children and announced that an amount of Rs 2 lakh will be given to the family of the deceased in addition to the support price from the state government.