New Delhi: A terrible accident took away the happiness of three families at the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad, Telangana late on Monday night. A fire broke out in the neonatal ward of the hospital due to short circuit of the air conditioner (AC) and within no time the entire ward was filled with poisonous and dense smoke. So far, three innocent newborns have lost their lives in this tragic accident, including a mere 5-day old baby. After this heart-wrenching incident, the families of the deceased children are in sad condition and there is mourning in the entire area.
Fire due to AC explosion, 3 innocent people died
Late Monday night at around 11:40 pm, there was a sudden massive explosion in the AC of SNCU ward and flames started rising. At the time of the incident, there were 24 newborns admitted in the ward, who had trouble breathing. As soon as the fire broke out, there was chaos in the hospital.
On information, police, fire brigade and medical staff immediately started the rescue operation. The fire brigade controlled the fire in time and stopped it from spreading to other wards.
Another child died in Nizamabad
The condition of the children started deteriorating due to the suffocating smoke. The rescue team showed promptness and rescued more than 20 children safely and shifted them to nearby super specialty hospital and other health centers.
So far three children have died during treatment due to smoke and burns. During the initial rescue operations, a premature baby of about 26 weeks died, while the rest of the children were undergoing treatment under the supervision of experts. Another innocent person breathed his last in Nizamabad during treatment on Tuesday, taking the death toll to three.
Order to investigate the matter
As soon as the news of the accident was received, District Collector Rajarshi Shah and Superintendent of Police Akhil Mahajan reached RIMS Hospital and took stock of the situation. Expressing deep grief over this incident, the Collector has directed for a high-level investigation into the matter. The administration says that the exact technical causes of the fire and any negligence on the part of the hospital management will be investigated. At present the priority is to save the lives of children admitted in other hospitals and to provide them better medical facilities like ventilators and oxygen. After this heart-wrenching incident, the families of the deceased children are in distress and there is mourning in the entire area.