Jhansi hospital fire: Shocked parents stay put; wait for their infants' charred bodies

Jhansi (UP): Yakum Mansuri was sleeping on the pavement outside the children's ward of the medical college in Jhansi on Friday night when a fire broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit. He broke in through a window and managed to rescue some newborns but not his two daughters.

Charred bodies of some babies were shown to him by the authorities for identification but to no avail. "I couldn't recognise them," said the grief-stricken father, still desperate to find his daughters.

The blaze at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that claimed the lives of 10 newborns, many of them born prematurely, has been doused but the air around is heavy with sorrow.

Parents, mostly young mothers, and their families who gathered outside the children's ward clung to one another, drawing strength in their darkest hour. The women's faces are hidden behind veils but their grief was palpable in their cries.

Santoshi, who gave birth just 11 days ago, sat on the ground sobbing with her face covered by her palms.

"I heard a noise and came running. But how could I save my child? There was no information, no one told us what was happening," she said in a voice shaking with grief, not ready to accept the loss of her child.

The fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday, possibly due to an electrical short circuit. As the rescue operation unfolded, many anxious parents and their families kept a silent vigil, struggling to comprehend the scale of the tragedy that had struck them.

While 10 newborns died in the fire, 16 others remain critically injured.

Among the heartbroken parents is Sanjana, who had just given birth to her first child prematurely.

"My child was born after seven months and was admitted here. When the fire broke out, no one could save him. He died," the wailing mother told PTI Videos.

Nearby, Sonu stood frozen, his face a mask of grief. He lost his seven-month-old son in the fire.

"My son had been admitted to the NICU for over a month. When the fire broke out, we were not allowed to enter. They saved many children, but 10 were burned. One of them was my son," he said to PTI video, his voice cracking with pain.

Sonu's brother Parsuram said, "We sold everything we had and took loans to buy medicine to ensure that he got the treatment he needed. Despite all this, we couldn't save the baby."

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the parents of each deceased and also ordered a three-tier probe into the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths and announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased.