Father Breaks Window to Save 7 Babies in NICU Fire, But Couldn’t Save His Twin Daughters

November 15 fire at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in India kills 10 newborns

• Yakoob Mansuri and his wife brought their twin daughters to Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College for treatment of respiratory problems.

• Hearing the news of the fire, Mansuri went to the NICU, broke the window and rescued the seven children, but could not save her twins.

• “We never thought, even in our worst dreams, that we would see our children in the condition we are in in the morgue,” Mansuri told the media.

A father was able to save seven babies, but not his twin daughters, during the deadliest hospital fire in India that killed 10 newborns last weekend.

Indian news outlets, including India Today, The National Herald again The Economic Timesreports that Yakoob Mansuri, 27, was outside the intensive care unit (NICU) of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, where his twin newborn daughters were receiving treatment, in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh state, on Friday, Nov. 15.

According to the The National Heralda woman who was feeding her baby in the neonatal intensive care unit (SNCU), came out crying after the fire broke out in the hospital.

That’s when Mansuri rushed to the NICU ward and broke the window to enter. India Today report. “It was a big fire that no one would dare,” he recalled, according to the outlet.

“I could not enter the ward where my daughters were admitted because the fire was so intense,” added Mansuri. “Other parents also tried but failed, then we started rescuing newborn babies in other wards, I took out seven babies.”

Mansuri also recalled a painful experience in National Herald: “There was only a small opening of the inner unit of SNCU. The entrance is not big enough for one person. We started feeling nauseous within minutes. How can children put up with it?”

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The bodies of Mansuri’s twin daughters were later identified on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Economic Times report.

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Mansuri and his wife initially brought their twins to the hospital for special care for their breathing problems.

“We never thought, not even in our wildest dreams, that we would see our children in the condition we are in at the morgue,” she told the newspaper. The National Herald.

According to the Associated Press, citing officials, there were 55 children being treated in the NICU at the time of the fire; 45 of them were rescued. Besides the 10 dead, 16 were injured.

An electrical short circuit or a malfunction in a machine used to raise oxygen levels in the NICU may have been the cause of the fire, according to officials, BBC News reported.

AP reported that according to officials, based on the initial investigation, such lack of security, including outdated fire extinguishers and malfunctioning alarms, hampered the efforts of the rescue authorities.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Brajesh Pathak, the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, commented on the tragedy, saying on November 15: “The death of many newborns in a terrible fire accident in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ( SNCU Ward) of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi today is very sad and heartbreaking.”

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Pathak also spoke to the bereaved families of children injured in the fire and visited the accident site. Additionally, he shared with X that there will be a three-stage investigation into the fire, adding: “The fire department will investigate. Along with this, orders have been issued for the magistrate to investigate the incident.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent a message to X describing the death of the children as tragic.

“I deeply sympathize with those who lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to face this great loss,” Modi wrote, adding: “The local authorities, under the guidance of the state government, are making all possible efforts to help and rescue.”

PEOPLE contacted Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College for comment on Monday, Nov. 18.