A fire broke out in a neonatal intensive care unit in northern India, killing 10 newborns from burns and suffocation, government officials said Saturday.
The fire broke out late Friday at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi district, about 290 miles southwest of Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow.
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State deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said emergency response forces rescued 38 newborns from a ward that was housing 49 babies at the time of the incident.
Police officers inspect the damaged neonatal intensive care unit after a fire broke out at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi district of northern India's Uttar Pradesh state on Saturday. (Reuters/Stringer)
“Seventeen of the injured are being treated in different wings and in some private hospitals,” Pathak told reporters in Jhansi. Seven of the infants who died have been identified, and authorities said they are working to identify the remaining three.
One infant remains missing, a government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe into the incident.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the “heartbreaking” incident.
Prime Minister Modi posted on the X Platform: “My heartfelt condolences to those who lost innocent children in this incident.'' “We pray that God will give them the strength to bear this immense loss.”
