Santoshi, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district, is desperately searching for her 10-day-old baby, who was in the NICU of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College when a devastating fire broke out last night.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 10 newborns, while at least 16 children are fighting for survival. The fire, triggered by a short circuit, engulfed the neonatal intensive care unit, which housed over 50 infants at the time.
The identification process for three of the ten newborns who tragically lost their lives in the fire is still underway, leaving many parents uncertain about the fate of their babies.
“I don’t know where my child is. When the fire broke out, I couldn’t get inside to save my baby. How could I? No one could get in. How could anyone have handed me my baby when everyone was panicking and running around?” Santoshi shared with news agency ANI.
Describing the newborn as her first baby, Santoshi said, “There were so many babies inside when the fire broke out, and it seems the babies didn’t survive. Some couldn’t be rescued. It’s unclear whether they were burned or saved. No one knows what happened to the children.”
Like Santoshi, many parents and relatives of the newborns at the medical facility in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, have expressed their distress and called on authorities for answers about their missing children.
Parent Demands DNA Test
Rani Sen, a resident of Narayan Bagh in Jhansi, is the aunt of a baby who was in the NICU during the fire. Since the tragedy, Sen has been desperately seeking answers, demanding DNA tests and official confirmation of her baby’s death.
“They are saying my child is dead, but no one has told me on what basis,” she said. “After the fire, they told us, ‘Go in and take your children,’ but by then, many of the children had already perished in the flames.”
“They say the identification is based on the tags on the children. But what about the baby I found who didn’t have a tag? I admitted that child under my name to Dr. Kuldeep Trivedi’s care in the ICU, and the baby is safe now. But that child is not mine. I informed them about this as well,” she added.
Another grieving mother, from Lalitpur, shared that her newborn had been admitted to the facility for a month. The baby had undergone surgery the day before and was then placed in the NICU. She said the fire broke out around 10 p.m., and while everyone rushed to rescue the babies, they were stopped by the hospital authorities. “After that, we couldn’t find our baby despite searching for a long time. Eventually, we were told that the baby had died in the fire.”
Parents’ Selfless Act Saves Lives
Kuldeep, a resident of Mahoba, displayed immense courage during the incident. Unaware of his own son’s condition, who was born just 10 days ago, he rushed to rescue three newborns from the hospital, suffering burn injuries in the process.
The visuals from the scene showed panicked patients and their caretakers, with a large contingent of police officers assisting in the rescue and relief operations.
In the midst of this chaos, several parents acted with remarkable alertness and selflessness to save the newborns. One such hero was Mangal Singh.
Singh, whose own newborn son tragically perished in the fire, managed to rescue several children from the hospital’s infant ward after the blaze broke out. At the time, around 54 newborns were admitted to the ward, and hospital officials were able to rescue 44 babies.
3 Babies Still Being Identified
Chief Medical Superintendent Sachin Mahor confirmed that the identification process for the remaining three of the ten newborns who died in the fire is still ongoing.
He also stated that the fire, caused by a short circuit, began between 10:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. He further confirmed that 39 babies from the NICU were rescued and are now in stable condition.
A senior police official stated that 16 children who were injured in the incident are receiving treatment at a local hospital, and efforts are being intensified to save their lives.
Source: News18
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