Five infants died burnt alive and five others got burn injuries in an early morning fire inside incubators where 10 newborns, all between three to seven days, were kept. The incident took place on Saturday the 31st Jan’09 at Punjab’s state-run Rajinder Medical College and Hospital at Patiala where the babies were kept in phototherapy incubators for treatment of congenital jaundice.
According to hospital sources, the fire broke out around 3.00AM when very few employees were on duty. According to eyewitness account one of the mothers had just fed her child when after five minutes the fire broke out. The lady ran for help after seeing smoke and fire leaping out from the incubators. Relatives of the patient admitted in the hospital and the staff somehow rescued the babies breaking open the glass coverings of the incubators.
Because of this timely action, five of the ten babies could be rescued with some burn injuries. Rest of the five babies, two boys and three girls, died inside the incubators burnt alive. Some of the rescued infants had glass splinters on their bodies. Four of these babies are out of danger and are being treated at the hospital itself whereas one baby has been transferred to PGI Hospital in Chandigarh.
The principal Jaswinder Pal Kaur, suspended one Doctor and two staff members for dereliction of duty. State administration too has ordered a judicial investigation with justice K.C.Gupta (Retd) heading the investigation.
Chief Minister Praksh Singh Badal has expressed great shock and sorrow over the incident and has declared Rs.100000 compensation to the families of the dead infants. He has also talked about honoring the people who actively helped in rescue operations. The Prime Minister too has expressed grief over the incident and conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved families.
Meanwhile the Patiala Police Super Gurmeet Singh said that as per initial investigation the fire was caused by electrical short circuit. The police are also looking into the complaint of haphazard electrical wirings and poor maintenance of the incubators.
It seems that the hospital authorities have not taken lessons from earlier death of infants inside the incubators in various parts of the country. For example in the year 2008 only, three infants died inside incubators, all due to electrical fire, one each at, Shardaben Chimanlal Municipal Hospital (Ahmedabad), Bhagwan Mahabir Hospital (Delhi) and Jaswant Rai Maternity Hospital of Meerut near Delhi.