Firefighting equipment at Jhansi hospital 'completely fine': UP Dy CM

Lucknow/Jhansi: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday dismissed media reports that the Jhansi Medical College, where a blaze claimed the lives of 10 newborns, had expired fire extinguishers.

In a statement, Pathak said a fire safety audit was carried out at the medical college in February and a mock drill was conducted in June.

At least 10 children died on Friday night in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, one of the largest government hospitals in the state’s Bundelkhand region, possibly due to an electrical short circuit. Another 16 children are battling for life after being injured in the incident.

Some media reports have claimed that the hospital had expired fire extinguishers and faulty alarms.

“The Yogi Adityanath government is standing with the children and their families. Our staff, doctors, and rescue team have worked bravely to save the children. All the firefighting equipment in the medical college was completely fine. A fire safety audit was conducted here in February and a mock drill was also conducted in June,” Pathak said in the statement.

Principal of the medical college, Dr Narendra Singh Sengar, also termed as “baseless” the allegations that the hospital had expired fire extinguishers.

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“A total of 146 fire extinguisher systems are installed in the medical college. At the time of the accident, the fire extinguisher of the NICU ward was also used. All these equipment are also audited from time to time. During this, the deficiencies are removed,” Sengar said.

“All these were audited in February while a mock drill was conducted in June. The claim of fire extinguishers being faulty in the medical college is completely baseless. The fire broke out in the ward due to a short circuit. The accident is being investigated,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Sudha Singh told reporters that the 16 injured children are being treated. All the doctors are available for them with adequate medical facilities, she said.

Singh said there were inputs that some parents took their kids home after the fire erupted in the NICU. She said efforts were underway to find out the exact number of children who were in the NICU when the fire broke out and their current status.

“The medical college has informed that 52 to 54 children were admitted at the time of the incident and 10 of them have died while 16 are undergoing treatment… verification for others is ongoing,” Singh said.

The rescue operation in the NICU was completed at around 1 am, she added.

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