News Analysis India

Tag: Bhandara

  • Bhandara hospital tragedy: Parents claim no doctor or nurse was present when fire broke out

    By PTI
    BHANDARA: Many parents whose newborn babies were among those dead in the Bhandara hospital fire have blamed the staff there for dereliction of duty.

    Ten babies died after the fire broke out on Saturday at the Special Newborn Care Unit of the four-storeyed district hospital in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district town, about 900 km from the state capital Mumbai.

    Kin of Geeta and Vishwanath Behere, whose two month- old daughter was among the 10 newborn babies who perished in the blaze, blamed the hospital authorities for dereliction of duty.

    They claimed that no doctor or nurse was present in the unit when fire broke out and blamed the hospital administration for the tragedy and sought action against those responsible.

    Vandana Sidam from Ravanwadi in Bhandara district gave birth to a girl at Pahela primary health centre on January 3.

    The baby was shifted to the district hospital unit as its weight was below normal.

    Family members of Vandana, whose husband was working in Pune when the tragedy happened, have blamed the hospital authorities for the fire and sought action against officials who they claim ignored safety norms.

    Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who has ordered a probe into the incident, is scheduled to visit Bhandara on Sunday and meet hospital officials and parents of the victims.

    A district official said the fire broke out around 1.30 am. At the time, there were two nurses and a helper in the children’s ward and they immediately raised an alarm. The fire brigade was called out and before it arrived, staffers tried to rescue the children and managed to save seven infants.

    Bhandara District Health Officer Prashant Uike said the SNCU is a 36-bed ward.

    The ages of the deceased children ranged between a few days to a few months. Civil Surgeon Pramod Khandate said most newborns died due to suffocation.

    “One baby had fatal burn injuries, and two others had minor burns injuries. The rest inhaled a lot of smoke,” he said.

  • Abandoned at birth, fire claimed infant’s life at Bhandara hospital

    By PTI
    BHANDARA: Authorities know the names of the mothers of nine out of ten babies who perished in fire at a state-run hospital in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district on early Saturday morning.

    One name is missing, as the child had been abandoned at birth.

    The new-born baby, a boy, had been found in the remote village of Kesalwada in Lakhanitehsil last week, a district official said.

    The Discovery of an abandoned child also made headlines in local newspapers.

    ALSO READ | Maharashtra to give Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for kin of infants who died in hospital fire, govt orders inquiry

    Police registered a case against its unidentified parents and admitted it to local rural hospital.

    As his condition was critical, he was shifted to Special Newborn Care Unit of Bhandara district hospital, the official said.

    When a fire broke out in the hospital in the early hours of Saturday, the staff succeeded in rescuing seven out of 17 babies from the Newborn Care Unit.

    The boy was not among the lucky ones.

  • Three infants died of burns, seven suffocated to death: Maharashtra health minister on hospital fire

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: At least three of the ten infants died of burn injuries in the Bhandara district hospital fire in Maharashtra while seven others died of suffocation caused by smoke on Saturday, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said, adding that a probe is ordered and the guilty will not be spared.

    He said Rs 5 lakh would be paid to family members of each of the deceased infant.

    According to doctors, ten newborn babies, aged between a month and three months, died after fire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of the hospital around 1.30 am.

    Seven out of the 17 babies in the affected unit were rescued.

    Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope says out of 10 infants, 7 are died due to suffocation while three were burnt to death. The postmortem of infant bodies will not be carried out & handed over to families. Ajit Pawar ordered fire audit of govt hospitals. @NewIndianXpress
    — Sudhir Suryawanshi (@ss_suryawanshi) January 9, 2021

    “The preliminary information available indicated that three infants died from burn injuries in the Bhandara district civil hospital while suffocation caused by smoke is the cause of the death of seven other infants,” Tope said in a video message.

    He said the hospital staff saved seven other infants admitted in the affected Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

    ​ALSO READ | Maharashtra to give Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for kin of infants who died in hospital fire, govt orders inquiry

    “The medical staff on duty opened the windows and doors of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit wards and shifted the infants to adjoining wards. However, they could not save the 10 infants,” he said.

    Tope said, “chief minister Uddhav Thackeray informed me of sanctioning Rs five lakh to each to the family members of the deceased infants”.

    He said the bodies have been sent to their respective homes for conducting the last rites.

    “Persons responsible for this incident will not be spared. A detailed inquiry is ordered. We will try to avoid such incidents in future by learning from this tragedy,” he added.

    Tope said he was rushing to the Bhandara civil hospital.

  • Bhandara fire: Ajit Pawar orders audit of all Maharashtra hospitals on urgent basis

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: After the fire at Maharashtra’s Bhandara district hospital that claimes lives of 10 newborns, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday ordered an audit of all hospitals in the state on an urgent basis.

    In a series of tweets, Pawar said that the hospital has been directed to resume the services with due diligence and treat other children under a specialist’s supervision.

    ALSO READ | Three infants died of burns, seven suffocated to death: Maharashtra health minister on hospital fire

    “In consultation with the Health Minister Rajesh Tope and the district administration, the hospital has been directed to resume the services with due diligence, and to treat other children under the supervision of specialists,” the Minister wrote on Twitter (roughly translated from Marathi).

    In order to prevent such accidents from happening again, the child care units of other hospitals in the state have been directed to be audited immediately, Pawar said in another tweet.

    He further said that the death of children is “very unfortunate and tragic” and the government has taken serious note of it.

    ALSO READ | Maharashtra to give Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for kin of infants who died in hospital fire, govt orders inquiry

    Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has directed an immediate inquiry into the incident and further announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased who died in the fire.

    As many as 10 children died in a fire that broke out SNCU of Bhandara District General Hospital at 2 am on Saturday.

  • Ten newborn babies die in fire at Maharashtra’s Bhandara district hospital

    By Express News Service
    BHANDRA: Ten newborn babies died after fire broke out in the Special Newborn Care Unit of a hospital in Maharashtra in the wee hours on Saturday, doctors said.

    All the infants were between a month and three months old, a doctor said. There were 17 babies in the unit and seven were rescued, he added.

    Fire broke out in the Bhandara district hospital at around 2 am, due to an apparent short circuit. 

    Another doctor said a nurse first noticed smoke coming out from the neonatal section of the hospital and alerted doctors and other staff who reached there in five minutes.

    Ten children died in a fire that broke out at Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital at 2 am today. Seven children were rescued from the unit: Pramod Khandate, Civil Surgeon, Bhandara, Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/bTokrNQ28t
    — ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2021

    Fire brigade personnel rescued seven babies from the ‘inbound ward’ of the unit but could not save the 10 other babies, he said.

    Parents of the deceased children were not notified about the incident properly and have assembled outside the hospital awaiting more details.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the accident as a ‘heart-wrenching’ tragedy and wished those injured a speedy recovery.

    Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives. My thoughts are with all the bereaved families. I hope the injured recover as early as possible.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2021

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed his condolences to those affected.

    “The fire accident in Bhandara district hospital, Maharashtra is very unfortunate. I am pained beyond words. My thoughts and condolences are with bereaved families. May God give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss,” he tweeted.

    The fire accident in Bhandara district hospital, Maharashtra is very unfortunate. I am pained beyond words. My thoughts and condolences are with bereaved families. May God give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss.
    — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 9, 2021

    Maharashtra Health minister Rajesh Tope expressed grief over the accident and reassured that the guilty will be punished and that the government is with the bereaved parents.

    Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has also ordered an inquiry into the incident and asked Tope and the district collector to extend all possible help to the kin of the victims.

    (With PTI and Online Desk inputs)