Did any of the staff members at the Vivek Vihar hospital see how the fire, which killed six newborns Saturday night, started? Was the fire a result of carelessness on the part of someone in using electrical equipment? These will be two key questions, among several others, that the Delhi Police will pose to around 15 staff members of New Born Baby Care Hospital. They will also be questioned on their shift timings, educational qualifications, knowledge of safely handling equipment, and if they had received any training to carry out rescue work in case of a mishap, said officials. Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of the facility, and Dr Akash, who was on duty Saturday night, were arrested Sunday evening. Officials questioned three-four staff members Monday and will call the rest over the week, said police. Said a senior police officer, “Fifteen staffers worked at the clinic and we summoned all of them for questioning, including the nurses. we will take their statements, including of nurses present at the site at the time of the fire to ascertain if they saw how the fire started or if the fire broke out due to carelessness in using an electrical equipment.” Said DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary, “A three-day custody remand of the accused persons has been obtained to verify their degrees as also the documents regarding the registration of the hospital.” Said another officer privy to the probe, “It has come to light that the owner, Dr Naveen Khichi, had first opened the Punjabi Bagh branch of his hospital in 2011, following which, over the years, he went on to open other branches. we are also getting the other operational branch checked to see whether it had proper registration and fire safety certificates. an audit of the other hospital (run by Dr Khichi) will be carried out.” The officer said teams were sent to the other hospitals on Monday to carry out inspection of its entry and exit points. “While a fire inspection report from the fire department is currently pending, prima facie, the cause of fire seems to be an electrical short circuit in one of the wires inside the hospital. The fire then spread to the cylinders, which eventually blew up,” said the officer. FSL teams found “burnt debris from van”, “burnt debris near the wall”, and burnt wire pieces. The FIR stated that FSL experts told police it was “difficult to pick up the exhibits” as the building was “warm from the fire”. According to the FIR, the ground floor and nearby buildings were also found in a burnt condition.
