Infant dies, 4 injured in Hyd hospital fire

AS MANY AS 42 CHILDREN WERE UNDERGOING TREATMENT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT AND THE FIVE BABIES WERE ADMITTED IN THE NICU

HYDERABAD: A three-month-old baby boy died and four others were injured after a fire broke out at a private children’s hospital in LB Nagar in the wee hours of Monday, police said.

The incident happened in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the hospital at 2.55 a.m, LB Nagar Police Station inspector V Ashok Reddy said.

One baby died in the fire mishap and four other babies were injured and shifted by parents and police to different hospitals and they were stated to be doing fine, the police official said.

The fire was extinguished with the help of fire tenders, police said.

As per preliminary information, a suspected short circuit caused the fire, Reddy said.

As many as 42 children were undergoing treatment at the hospital at the time of the accident and the five babies were a dmitt e d i n t he NICU, t he

Inspector said.

Meanwhile, some people including parents and relatives of the injured children held a protest in front of the hospital.

Shaik Moin, a witness told news agency ANI: “We came to admit our child suffering from d e ng ue a t RENS Hospi t a l a r o u n d 2 : 3 0 a m. When we reached the hospital, parents were taking out their injured children. No hospital personnel was available.”

A case under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence) has been registered in connection with the incident and a probe is on.