Newborn deaths in fire: Govt investigation panel reaches Jhansi hospital, CCTV footage key

The state government had on Saturday formed the four-member committee to investigate the fire and tasked it with identifying the cause of the blaze and determine whether there was any negligence.

Kinjal Singh, who visited the NICU ward, was accompanied by officials of the departments of fire and health, as well as the district administration.

The footage of the CCTV cameras installed at the NICU ward is critical to the probe as it will help establish if there was any negligence on part of the hospital staff, an official said.

Families outside the sealed NICU and emergency ward at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi on Saturday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The inquiry team will also see what precautions should be taken to ensure such incident does not occur in future.

Also, a meeting was held in the evening in which senior official of the medical college, police and fire departments and the administration were present.

Three more inquiries have been ordered into the fire incident — by the Health Department, police and district administration, and a magisterial probe. A status report of the incident has been submitted to the government by the district administration.

Senior district administration officials said five CCTV cameras were installed at different places inside the NICU ward and the footage was examined after the fire was brought under control. A total of eight hospital staff, including two doctors and three nurses, were present in the ward at the time of the incident, it is learnt.

An official said the fire was first spotted by a female staff member who tried to control it but the medical equipment further fanned the flames.

“We viewed the footage and found medical college staff working hard trying to save the newborn babies soon after the fire. We have viewed how and when the incident occurred and what efforts were made to douse the flames,” said the official.

On Sunday night, another baby, rescued from the ward after the fire incident, died during treatment at the hospital. The doctors, however, attributed his death to illness. A rescued newborn child had also died during treatment earlier in the day.