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The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday ordered a three-tier probe into the fire incident at the children's ward of a medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district that killed 10 newborns and also dismissed reports that the facility had expired fire extinguishers.
Post-mortem of seven infants was carried out on Saturday while the autopsy of three could not be conducted as their parents have not been identified yet, Additional Superintendent of Police (City) of Jhansi Gyanendra Kumar Singh told PTI.
According to Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar, the fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday in the NICU wards of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, one of the largest government hospitals in the state's Bundelkhand region, possibly due to an electrical short circuit.
Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak dismissed media reports that the medical college had expired fire extinguishers. "All firefighting equipment in the medical college was completely fine," he said in a statement, adding a fire safety audit was carried out at the medical college in February and a mock drill was conducted in June.
The principal of the medical college, Dr Narendra Singh Sengar, also termed the allegations "baseless".
The blaze at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where the infants admitted were mostly prematurely born, has been doused but the air around is heavy with sorrow. Parents, mostly young mothers, and their families who gathered outside the children's ward clung to one another, drawing strength in their darkest hour.
President Droupadi Murmu termed the news of the incident "extremely heartbreaking" while Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased. The Uttar Pradesh government has also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh.
The incident sparked a political blame game in the state where bypolls to nine assembly seats will be held on November 20. Opposition parties blamed the BJP government in the state and said the deaths raise serious questions about the negligence of the administration.
A statement from the Uttar Pradesh government said that on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's directions to expedite the rescue work, senior officials took charge of the situation on Friday night itself.
Most of the children were evacuated to safety within 15 to 20 minutes through the rescue operation, it said, adding that most of the infants were shifted to the PICU ward.
Expressing his condolences to the families of the deceased children, Adityanath directed the officials to provide all possible help to the victims.
"Ten newborns died in the accident, while 54 were rescued," he said.
Another statement from the state government said, "On the CM's instructions, an assistance of Rs 5 lakh each is being provided to the parents of the newborns who died in the incident and Rs 50,000 to the family of each of the injured from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund."
The chief minister has directed the Divisional Commissioner of Jhansi and the deputy inspector general of police to submit a report on the incident within 12 hours, it added.
At an election rally at Phulpur in Prayagraj, Adityanath said the fire was caused by a short circuit. "To ensure that other children were rescued, we were up all night coordinating (with officials) for relief and rescue efforts," he said while explaining why he was delayed in arriving at the rally.
"My heart goes out to those who lost their children," the CM said.
The state government also said that as soon as information about the incident was received, Adityanath sent Deputy CM Pathak and the principal health secretary to the spot.
"Sixteen children are undergoing treatment in other wards of the medical college. The children, who were three to four days old, have been kept on a warmer," Pathak told PTI on Saturday.
"Instructions have been issued to launch a three-tier probe into the incident. The Jhansi Divisional Commissioner and the DIG have been told to probe the matter and the fire department will also look into it. Along with this, instructions have also been given for a magisterial inquiry into the incident," the deputy chief minister said on X.
In another post in Hindi on X, Pathak said he has spoken to the family of the children injured in the blaze and assured them of all possible help.
Interacting with reporters, he said, "We will detect the cause of the incident and whose negligence led to it. The priority is giving quality treatment to the injured."
Talking about the rescue operation, the principal of the medical college said, "The children who did not suffer any burn injury or suffocation are being taken care of at the district hospital. The rescued children have been admitted to other wards of the medical college, district hospital and private nursing homes."
Earlier on Saturday, Senior Superintendent of Police Sudha Singh told reporters that 16 injured children were being treated and efforts were underway to save their lives.
There was also information that some parents took their children home after the fire erupted in the ward, she said, adding police are trying to verify the tally of infants who were in the NICU and their current status.
"The medical college has informed that 52 to 54 children were admitted at the time of the incident. While 10 of them died, 16 are undergoing treatment. Verification for others is ongoing," Singh added.
The Congress targeted the Adityanath dispensation over the incident, with Rahul Gandhi saying that such tragic incidents happening one after another in Uttar Pradesh raise many serious questions about the negligence of the government and administration.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded an investigation into the accident and strict legal action against whoever was found guilty of negligence.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the CM should leave the poll campaign and focus on improving the state's health and medical facilities. He also demanded that Rs 1 crore should be paid to all bereaved families, adding, "Gorakhpur should not be repeated".