Kerala: Fire at Neonatal ICU of Mother hospital, no injuries reported

Thrissur: In an unfortunate incident, a major fire broke out at the Neonatal Intensive care unit (NICU) of Mother Hospital, Olari, near Thrissur. Newborn babies and two pregnant women were quickly rescued and a major disaster was avoided.

The situation was brought under control with the timely intervention of the fire brigade who rescued the sick newborn babies and prevented the fire from spreading further.

The incident took place on Wednesday at around 11:30 am when the fire broke out from the air conditioning in the children's ICU and started to spread in the children's ICU and gynaecology wards of the Olari Mother Hospital.

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Due to a lack of adequate ventilation, the rooms were filled with smoke and the smoke spread to the corridors and the adjacent gynaecology ward.

Two fire units were rushed to the hospital as soon as the fire incident was informed them. In order to release the smoke, the fire brigade personnel broke the glass of the ICU.

The babies and the pregnant women in the labour ward were immediately shifted to other wards by the hospital staff and are safe now.

According to the fire department, the cause of the fire is believed to be a short circuit in the air conditioning. However, the hospital is at major fault since the fire safety system of the hospital was not working at the time of the incident, Kerala Kaumudi reports.

Due to the immediate intervention of the fire personnel, a major disaster was avoided at the hospital.

It has been reported that the hospital was earlier warned to fix its fire safety system and a notice was also served in this regard. However, no initiative was taken by the hospital authorities.

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