By Deutsche Welle
May 26, 2024, 11:44 AM EDT
Six newborns died in a fire that devastated a maternity hospital in New Delhi, to which several people entered in the middle of the flames to try to save the babies, the police reported this Sunday (05/26/2024). “The 12 newborns were taken from the hospital with the help of other people,” police officer Surendra Choudhary explained in a statement, specifying that six of them died before receiving medical attention.
“Legal action was taken against the owner of the hospital“, he stressed. Among the 12 babies who were taken from the center, one of them had already died before the fire started, adding to the six who died due to the flames, Choudhary added without further details. Yesterday the country suffered another deadly fire in an amusement park that ultimately left 27 dead, four of them children.
The fire broke out late on Saturday at the New Born Baby Care hospital in the Vivek Vihar district of the Indian capital. According to New Delhi fire department director Atul Garg, 14 fire engines were deployed in the area to extinguish the flames. “The fire spread too quickly due to the explosion of an oxygen cylinder,” Garg told news agency PTI.
“There was a big explosion, (…) The nurses came out from the back crying for help to save the newborns“One of the witnesses told the press outside the children’s center. Images of the exterior of the hospital show the building and adjacent vehicles completely consumed by flames. The parents of the children admitted to the center are still waiting for the identification of the bodies with DNA tests, relatives told the press outside the hospital.
Delhi State Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the situation “heartbreaking.” “The causes of the fire are being investigated, and whoever is responsible for this negligence will not go unpunished,” he said on social network X. “This is a heartbreaking incident,” he lamented.
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