Jhansi hosp fire: Young dad saved many babies, but lost his twin girls

JHANSI: Yakoob Mansuri, in his 20s, was a hero on Friday night, for other people's children. His own newborn twin girls, they will never know.

For a week, the young food vendor from Hamirpur had been sleeping outside the neonatal intensive care unit of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College where his two newborn twin daughters had been admitted. With his wife Nazma, Yakoob took turns to keep watch on the twins.

When the fire broke out on Friday night, Yakoob broke the window and entered the unit to rescue as many infants as he could. But his two daughters were not among them. The twin girls' bodies were identified later on Saturday. Nazma and Yakoob sat all day long outside the hospital, their eyes brimming with disbelief and sorrow.

Similarly, Sanjana Kumari, who had just given birth to her first child, mourned a loss no one should ever have to endure. "My baby was burned to death in front of my eyes and I just watched helplessly. The hospital's negligence destroyed my dreams. I couldn't even hold my child," she said, the pain still raw.

Santoshi Devi from Jalaun brought her baby to the hospital after complications during delivery. But when the fire broke out, he was lost in the chaos. His body was identified on Saturday. "I heard screams, but my baby was gone," she said.

Hospital staff did not act in time, say kids’ kin

She gave birth just 11 days ago to a child she no longer has. “I heard noises and ran, but how could I save my child? No one told us what was happening,” she said.

Sonu and Sanjana, from Lalitpur, spoke of their premature son, who was being treated for respiratory issues. “We were told not to feed him so we rested a while. By the time we got back to the hospital, the fire had ravaged the unit,” Sanjana said. “We did everything we could, but in the end, he was taken from us,” said Sonu. His brother, Parsuram, said, “We sold everything we had, took loans, all for the hope that our son would survive.”

Niranjan Maharaj from Lalitpur identified his grandchild’s body by the name tag. “He was burned to death in the fire,” he said, alleging the hospital staff didn’t act in time.