Twenty-seven oxygen cylinders were found inside and outside the two-storey Baby Care New Born Child Hospital, as per the FIR registered in the case. Five of the cylinders had exploded during the blaze in the neonatal hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar, in which seven newborns were killed and five injured.
It added that the hospital owner and its staff did not ensure the proper safety and security of the newborns.
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“With the help of fire brigades and ambulances of CATS (Centralised Accident and Trauma Services) and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal (an NGO), 12 newborns were rescued from the back of the building and were taken to another hospital,” states the FIR accessed by The Hindu.
Dr. Naveen Khichi, the hospital owner, and Dr. Akash, who was on duty at the time of the incident, were remanded in police custody for three days after being produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand on Monday.
The two were arrested a day earlier and booked under various sections, including IPC Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).
Following the blaze, the newborns were moved to East Delhi Advance NICU Hospital. The seven infants who were declared dead on arrival by the hospital were shifted to the GTB Hospital mortuary for post-mortem. The bodies of five infants whose autopsies had been conducted were handed over to their parents on Monday, a senior officer said, adding that the remaining bodies would also be handed over after their post-mortem.
‘Didn’t ensure safety’
A delegation of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which visited the site on Sunday and spoke to officials and family members of the victims, said in its findings that emergency exits were absent building, fire extinguishers were non-functional, and there was a lack of operational fire alarms and water sprinkler systems in the hospital.
The report, which was shared with the Lieutenant-Governor and the Police Commissioner, highlighted the lack of preparedness and safety compliance at the nursing home. The commission also noted that residents of the area, not the hospital staff, had reported the fire, indicating “a severe lack of emergency training” of the medical facility’s employees.
‘Raised complaints’
Vivek Vihar’s residents’ welfare association (RWA) president Anand Goel told The Hindu that they had repeatedly complained about the threats posed by the medical facility to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the area councillor, and the police, but to no avail.
“Residents who lived around the facility highlighted in every meeting that the medical facility housed such a high number of oxygen cylinders on the ground floor, creating a huge safety hazard,” said Mr. Goel.
He added that those living near the two-storey building had informed the RWA about oxygen cylinders being unloaded, refilled, and loaded back on vehicles between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Monday ordered all private and State-run hospitals to complete their fire safety audits by June 8. Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the hospitals have also been told to submit a compliance report.
Audit of city hospitals
“Chief District Medical Officers have also been directed to conduct random checks at nursing homes,” he said.
Mr. Bharadwaj said the Health Department had filed two cases against the hospital owner about deficiencies found during a surprise inspection conducted earlier. “The two cases are currently being heard by courts in Karkardooma and Tis Hazari,” he said, adding that the hospital owner was found to have been running another medical facility in Paschim Puri.
“It had been learnt that oxygen refilling was being carried out at the hospital,” the Minister said. He added that it is illegal for hospitals to have refilling systems since it can lead to a fire.
He also said that he would request the government to give bravery awards to two nurses and five residents who put their lives at stake to save the lives of the infants.
Published - May 28, 2024 01:11 am IST
