7 Newborns dead, 5 Injured: What Went Wrong in Delhi's Neonatal Hospital that Caught Fire?

New Delhi: In a tragic incident, seven newborns died and five got injured after a baby care centre in Delhi's Vivek Vihar caught fire. As per media reports, the hospital authorities did not possess a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Department.

Police have further informed that the hospital was operating despite the expiry of its license and it also did not have any qualified doctors. 

Although the owner of the medical facility, Dr. Khichi, had been absconding after the incident, police detained him on Sunday and he was taken to Vivek Vihar Police Station in Shahdara.

He has been booked under Section 336 (act endangering life and personal safety of others) and Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

What Went Wrong? 

While commenting on the tragic incident, the Director of the Delhi Fire Department, Atul Garg told ANI, "At 11:32 pm, we got a call that there was a fire in the baby care centre. We initially sent seven fire tenders and afterwards, sent five more. We tried very hard and rescued 12 children. Later we came to know that there were small children in which around six children died. It is a very sad incident."

Explaining what went wrong, the Director of the Delhi Fire Department Atul Garg informed that the blast took place because there were some oxygen cylinders. "When we got the call, the caller requested to send more vehicles as the fire spread to the nearby buildings also," Garg said ANI. According to him, the fire broke out in the baby centre first, so people from the nearby areas had already left and there was no need to rescue the adjacent buildings.

Describing the rescue operation, he told ANI, "It was a very tough operation. We made two teams. One team started firefighting because there was a blast of cylinders, we can say the chain of blast of cylinders. So we had to save ourselves also. We started rescue operations for babies as well. Unfortunately, we could not save all the children. We removed all the twelve babies to the hospital. But after arrival, they declared that 6 were dead. That is a regrettable incident."

DM Shahadra in its factual report submitted to the Divisional Commissioner said that there were 12 children admitted to the hospital for neo-natal care.

"Of these, one died on the spot. The rest of the 11 children were shifted from the incident side to another hospital in the vicinity, named East Delhi Advance NICU-Child Specialist Hospital at PH-1, D-237, Vivek Vihar. Six children were declared dead upon their arrival at the new hospital. The rest of the five children are safe and undergoing treatment," the report read.

The report further added that seven dead children, of which four male and three female newborn babies were moved to the GTB Hospital for the postmortem. A total of 16 fire tenders were used to douse the fire, reports ANI.

Also Read: Fire breaks out at Bengaluru's Raksha Hospital, 16 patients shifted

No NOC from the Fire Department? What do the Rules Say?

This incident has shed light upon the lackadaisical approach of the government and health facilities towards the fire safety norms. As per the current rules, the hospitals can't register under the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act without NOC from the Fire Department which means in the absence of NOC, no registration will be granted. Further, under the Fire Act, requirements are only laid down for buildings in residential areas having a height of more than 15 meters. There are no such NOC requirements for less than 15 meters. 

Sources told Medical Dialogues that the Delhi hospital where the tragic incident took place, was a small hospital with the building height of less than 15 meters.

As per the HT report, the ground floor of the building housed a small reception area and storage space that had at least 32 cylinders. The first floor of the building had a wide room with three aluminium partitions where the beds were placed and an ICU section. The treatment room was also in the same space. The floor had tiny glass windows at the front and a staircase at the back leading outside. The second floor was used to store equipment, along with some furniture.

Informing ANI that the facility did not have the NOC, Atul Garg, the Director of the Delhi Fire Department earlier said, "I cannot explain this completely yet, most likely the authorities did not possess a No-Objection Certificate (NOC)."

The Police have also informed PTI that there was no fire extinguisher installed in the hospital for any emergency in case of fire and besides there was no emergency exit in the hospital in case of any untoward incident. 

On the condition of anonymity, an official of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) told PTI, "The building has no fire NOC. Rest we will also check documents related to the NOC on Monday."

Also Read: Issuance of Fire NOC to Private hospitals once every five years: IMA Rajasthan

Hospital was Operating Without License, Qualified Doctors: 

Apart from not having the NOC, the concerned health facility was reportedly operating without a valid license. Confirming this, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said, "The licence issued to the Baby Care New Born Child Hospital by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Government of Delhi, has already expired on March 31."

He further informed that "Even the expired licence issued to the said hospital allowed for five beds only." Despite this, the officer informed that 12 newborns were admitted in the hospital at the time of the incident.

The DCP added, "During the investigations, we got to know that the doctors are not qualified/competent to treat the newborn children in need of Neo-Natal Incentive care, as they are BAMS degree holders only."

Reaction from Bereaved Families: 

After the incident, District Magistrate (DM), Shahdara, Ritisha Gupta who reached the GTB Hospital faced the anger of grieving family members who shouted 'hume insaaf chahiye' (we need justice). "Every single official who is visiting here is tightlipped. They have no answer if the hospital was legal? If the hospital was having any NOC from the fire department," said Ritik, who lost his 10-day-old child.

"Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," said Ansaar, whose 11-day-old daughter was among the seven newborns killed in a blaze at a childcare hospital in Delhi. 

Another bereaved parent, the mother of a 17-day-old Ruhi, who was also killed in the fire said, "I saw my baby yesterday. She had a fever and was admitted to the hospital two days ago. This morning I was told about the fire."

For Masialam, a labourer, tragedy struck him again after five years. He asked, "I lost my son five years ago. On Saturday, my newborn son died. What kind of facilities do they have?"

Many parents sold their jewellery or loaned money to pay for their children's treatment at the hospital, Masialam, the father of a three-year-old girl, said. He mentioned that his son was born at another hospital and was admitted to Baby Care New Born Hospital after he developed an infection.

Parvinder Kumar, a relative of another victim, said, "We have not informed her mother yet." She was just six days old and "we have lost her", he said. The hospital is to be blamed and strict action should be taken against its owner, he added. 

Government Action: 

Meanwhile, the Delhi Government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the fire tragedy. The Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal has also assured strict action in the case. The CM said, "This incident of fire in a children's hospital is heartbreaking. We all stand with those who lost their innocent children in this accident. Government and administration officials are busy providing treatment to the injured on the spot. The causes of the incident are being investigated and whoever is responsible for this negligence will not be spared."

Addressing the tragic incident, the President wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "The news of the death of many children due to a fire in a hospital in Vivek Vihar, Delhi is heart-rending. May God give strength to the bereaved parents and relatives to bear this shock. I pray for the speedy recovery of other children injured in this incident."

Also Read: Fire breaks out at Noida District Hospital, 25 patients shifted