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All of those who died in Maharashtra State Hospital were between a few days and three months old.
Ten babies were killed at a maternity hospital in the Indian state of Maharashtra early Saturday when fire raged through a major hospital, a doctor said.
Staff rescued seven of the newborns at Bhandara District Hospital, but were forced to return before they could join the other 10, Chief Medical Officer Pramod Khandate told AFP.
All of those who died were between a few days and three months old, according to reports.
“The cause of the fire is not yet known, but our staff extinguished the fire as soon as they could. The smoke caused the babies to suffocate, ”Khandate said.
Nurses on duty noticed a fire originating from the hospital’s neonatal unit and sounded the alarm.
Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to other parts of the hospital and other patients were taken to safety.
“A heartbreaking tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we lost precious young lives,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the deaths “extremely tragic”.
Authorities have ordered an immediate investigation into the latest disaster to raise doubts about the safety of Indian hospitals. More than 90 people died in hell at a Kolkata hospital in 2011.
A fire at an Ahmedabad hospital in August killed eight coronavirus patients. Five other COVID-19 patients died in a fire at a clinic in Rajkot in November.
The Supreme Court has requested a report on hospital safety from coronavirus due to the incidents.
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