What do I tell my wife?’ Father who lost his baby in Telangana hospital fire

“Now she is dead. What do I tell my wife – Saba – who is admitted at a different hospital? Who is to blame for this? Who is going to bring my daughter back?” he asked. His brother tried to console him.

Telangana hospital fire

Fasil’s daughter was born at a private hospital in Adilabad town.

But because she was a pre-term baby she was shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi hospital, or RIMS.

Fasil’s daughter weighed just 1 kg when she was born on September 18.

She died at 12.30 am, an hour after the fire broke out.

Shaik Bai from Ichoda – 32 km away – also lost her baby.

Also born pre-term – 15 days ago – Bai’s daughter weighed 1.3 kg when she was  brought to RIMS last week. She died at 4.35 am on Tuesday.

The third and youngest baby to die was the daughter of Saba Samreen from Utnoor. Born Sunday, she weighed 1.3 kg too. Rescued her from the blaze, her father rushed her to Nizamabad Government General Hospital where she succumbed at 6.15 am.

People gather after the Special Newborn Care Unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Institue of Medical Sciences caught fire after the AC unit burst, in Adilabad, Telangana, Tuesday. (PTI Photo)

None of the three babies had been named yet.

Following the incident, a pall of gloom descended over the hospital as relatives gathered and took the bodies back to their respective villages.

‘Door got locked, had to break window panes’

“There was chaos when the ACs started exploding. Everyone, including the nurses and doctors, rushed out and then, realising what was happening, went in again to rescue the infants.”

“By then, thick smoke had enveloped the unit and nothing was visible. One of the doors of the ward got locked so the glass panes and windows had to be broken to rescue all the infants. The babies were already gasping for breath or were crying,’” a relative of Shaik Bai said.

All three babies were born at other hospitals and rushed to RIMS for ‘life-saving treatment’.

Two nurses and several hospital staff suffered burn injuries while rescuing around 28 infants. All the other infants were either born pre-term or had developed complications after birth.

Firefighters battled the blaze, which broke out at 11.30pm, for more than an hour before bringing it under control.

28 babies saved, some develop breathing issues

Adilabad District Collector Rajarshi Shah said several of the 28 rescued infants later developed breathing difficulties due to smoke inhalation. Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha said three were shifted to a private hospital in Adilabad and two to Nizamabad for further treatment.

Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ordered an inquiry and directed officials to ensure the best possible treatment for the affected infants. He also instructed authorities to monitor their health and ordered a safety and fire-prevention audit of all state-run hospitals.

The police and fire department officials are investigating whether an AC unit malfunction or a short circuit triggered the blaze. The chief minister has sought a detailed report on the cause of the fire.