Nine newborns were evacuated from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a private hospital in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after a fire broke out in the early hours of Friday, officials and the hospital administration said.
The incident took place at Asian Hospital on Jalna Road in the Marathwada city. The nine babies, who were undergoing intensive or specialised treatment, were in the NICU when hospital staff noticed smoke emerging from an air-conditioning unit, said Dr Shoeb Hashmi, who runs the hospital.
“It was a small incident, and nothing untoward happened. As a precaution, our team evacuated the infants along with the patients in the neighbouring general ward,” he said. The patients from the general ward were later brought back, he added.
The newborns were subsequently shifted to other hospitals after their families gave their consent, Hashmi said.
“The hospital team took immediate action and brought the situation under control. There were injuries in the incident. The hospital has been cleaned and is functioning as per its routine,” he said.
However, the in-charge officer at Jawaharnagar police station said there were no injuries or casualties.
“A fire incident was reported to us. There were no injuries or casualties in the incident,” the officer said.
The incident comes around 10 days after a major fire at the NICU of the District Women’s Hospital in Amravati, in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region. Three newborns died and 36 others were rescued in that incident, following which the state government ordered a high-level inquiry into the tragedy.
(With inputs from PTI)