NEW DELHI: The absence of emergency exits, non-functional fire extinguishers, and a lack of operational fire alarms and water sprinkler systems were found by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights team, which visited the Vivek Vihar hospital where six babies died in a fire on Sunday.
The commission noted that the lapses constituted grave contravention of the National Building Code, 2016, and guidelines from the National Disaster Management Authority.
The NCPCR team, led by member Preeti Bharadwaj Dalal, visited the site on Sunday to assess the situation. The team’s findings, which were shared with the L-G and Police Commissioner, highlighted a troubling lack of preparedness and safety compliance at the nursing home.
It was locals, not hospital staff, who reported the fire, indicating a severe lack of emergency training among the nursing home staff, according to the NCPCR report. Prima facie, the incident appears to have been caused by negligence on the part of the nursing home authorities.
The NCPCR has demanded from the hospital the NOC from the fire department, its operating licence, its registration certificate, a list of all staff with their qualifications, the sanctioned capacity of NICU beds/incubators, a copy of the FIR related to the incident, the post mortem reports, and the licence for refilling the oxygen unit.
The NCPCR team also met with the families of the victims and surviving infants. It observed that some families faced difficulties in identifying and claiming the surviving infants.