Ten newborns have died from burns and constipation after a fire broke out in an intensive care unit in northern India, a government official said on Saturday.
The fire broke out Friday night at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi district, about 285 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.
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Paramedics rescued 38 newborns from the ward, which housed 49 babies at the time of the incident, said Deputy Provincial Minister Brajesh Pathak.
Police inspect the neonatal intensive care unit after a fire broke out at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi district, northern Uttar Pradesh state, India, on Saturday. (REUTERS/Stringer)
“The 17 injured are receiving treatment in different wards and private hospitals,” Pathak told reporters in Jhansi. Seven of the dead children have been identified, and the authorities are busy identifying the remaining three, he said.
There is only one baby left, said a government official who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the “heartbreaking” incident.
“I sympathize deeply with those who lost their innocent children in this,” Modi said at the X forum. “I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this great loss.”
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