Saddened Beyond Words: B-Town Calls Bhandara Hospital Fire a Colossal Tragedy

In a shocking tragedy, at least 10 new-born infants were suffocated in a fire that erupted in the children’s ward of a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district early on Saturday morning. The fire, due to a suspected electrical short-circuit, erupted around 1.45 a.m. when the mothers and relatives of the infants were fast asleep and quickly engulfed the Sick & Newborn Care Unit of the Bhandara District General Hospital.

Expressing shock and grief over the tragic incident, actor Anupam Kher tweeted: “My heart goes out to the families of the children who lost their lives in the hospital fire in #bhandara #Maharashtra. It is such a colossal tragedy. I am saddened beyond words. Hope the injured recover soon (sic).”

Read: Bhandara Hospital Fire: 3 Babies Succumbed to Burns, 7 Suffocated to Death, Says Maharashtra Health Minister

While actress Genelia D’Souza said it is “absolutely heartbreaking”, actor-politician Urmila Matondkar condoled the deaths tweeting, “Such a tragic news..my deepest condolences to the families of the babies who lost their lives..may God give them strength to deal with this tremendous grief. Prayers for souls of the little angels.”

Fire broke out in the Bhandara district hospital at around 2 am, the doctor said. There were 17 babies in the unit and seven were rescued, he added. Another doctor said a nurse first noticed smoke coming out from the neonatal section of the hospital and alerted doctors and other staff who reached there in five minutes.

Read: 10 Infants Dead After Fire in Newborn Unit of Bhandara Hospital; Govt Orders ‘Immediate Audit’ of All Hospitals

Fire brigade personnel rescued seven babies from the ‘inbound ward’ of the unit but could not save the 10 other babies, he said. The cause of the fire in the four storeyed building is not known but could have been the result of an electrical short circuit, he said.

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