New Delhi : A massive fire broke out at a two-story baby day care center in Vivek Vihar, Yamunapaar (East Delhi), in the national capital Delhi on Saturday night. Six newborns were severely burnt in the fire and died. According to the fire department, a total of 12 children were rescued during the incident, one child is on ventilator support and five children are hospitalized. The center is located in Block B of Vivek Vihar.
Rescue Operations and Investigation:
According to the fire department, all were admitted to nearby Gupta Nursing Home and East Delhi Advance Nursing Home through ambulances. As soon as the information was received, fire brigade and police teams reached the spot. The rescue team took all the newborns out through the window. The fire department brought the fire under control after a hard hour’s effort. The center’s operator and staff fled after the incident. The parents were also not informed. The police are trying to trace the parents.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Surendra Chaudhary said that information was received about a fire in the baby care center at 11:30 pm on Saturday night. Immediately, the fire brigade and police team reached the spot. People from the ground floor of the care center saw smoke coming out. Soon the fire reached the upper floors. The flames engulfed the entire building. The fire brigade and police broke the windows from the back side of the care center and took out all the newborns one by one. As the newborns were brought out, they were admitted to another hospital. Initially, a short circuit is being told as the cause of the fire.
Police Statement:
The police said that as soon as the information was received, the team was sent to the spot. By then, the fire had spread to the Baby Care Newborn Hospital located at C-54, Vivek Vihar and the surrounding buildings. One newborn had died before the fire broke out. All 12 newborn babies were rescued with the help of the fire department and others and shifted to East Delhi Advance NICU Hospital, D-237, Vivek Vihar. Six of these infants were declared dead. All seven bodies have been sent to GTB Hospital for postmortem. The owner of the hospital, Naveen Kichi, lives in West Vihar. Action is being taken against him.
Eyewitness Accounts:
Eyewitnesses said that the fire also engulfed a four-story and a two-story building located on both sides of the center. During this, the oxygen cylinders kept in the hospital fell away with a loud bang. One cylinder fell into the ITI campus located 100 meters away.