CHHINDWARA: A fire in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a district hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara left one newborn dead and two others injured after a warmer machine allegedly caught fire early Saturday, officials said.The incident occurred around 2am when sparks from the filament of the warmer machine allegedly triggered the blaze at the Chhindwara district hospital, they said.Hospital staff used firefighting equipment to bring the fire under control.District hospital civil surgeon Kanchan Dubey said all three newborns were given primary treatment before being referred to Jabalpur for better medical care.One of the babies was in critical condition and required surgery. As a paediatric surgeon was not available in Chhindwara, the newborn was referred to Jabalpur, Dubey said.The child later died during treatment.The other two newborns also suffered burn injuries and were referred to Jabalpur for further treatment, officials said.The hospital administration has ordered an inquiry to determine the cause of the fire.One of the affected newborns had been born to Shivani Verma and Aditya Verma only a few hours before the incident, officials said.Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Assembly Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar criticised the BJP government in the state over the incident.In a post on X, Singhar alleged that hospitals were becoming a threat to lives under the BJP government and called for an immediate fire safety audit of all hospitals across the state.He also urged Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to ensure the safety of patients.(With PTI inputs)
