NEW DELHI, May 26: A massive fire broke out at a private children’s hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar, leaving seven newborns dead, officials said on Sunday.
The officials of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said the blaze broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital at around 11:30 pm on Saturday and soon spread to two other adjacent buildings.
Sixteen fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze, Divisional Fire Officer Rajendra Atwal said.
Oxygen cylinders kept in the two-storey building exploded due to which the adjacent buildings were damaged, he said.
Another fire official said two boutiques, a portion of IndusInd Bank operating from an adjacent building and a shop on the ground floor were also damaged besides an ambulance and a scooty parked outside the building.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendera Modi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among other political leaders, condoled the deaths of the newborns.
Meanwhile, DFS chief Atul Garg said 12 newborns were rescued from the medical facility but seven of them died.
Five babies are undergoing treatment at another hospital, he said, adding some of them have received minor burn injuries. The bodies have been shifted to the GTB Hospital for postmortem, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said owner of the hospital Naveen Kichi has been booked under sections 336 (act endangering life of personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) at Vivek Vihar police station.
The officer said teams have been formed to nab the owner. (PTI)
