By Oisin Sweeney • Published: 09 Jan 2021 • 7:12
The fire tore through the hospital's maternity ward - Image Source: Twitter
TEN NEWBORN babies have been killed in a tragic hospital fire in Western India.
Seven infants were rescued from the blaze before firefighters arrived at the Bhandara District Hospital in the western state of Maharashtra. The cause of the fire is not yet known and an investigation is underway.
“Hospital authorities have rescued seven babies but 10 have died in an unfortunate incident,” district civil surgeon Pramod Khandate told local reporters.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as a “heart-wrenching tragedy”. According to hospital officials, the tragic blaze broke out at about 02:00 local time (20:30 GMT Friday, January 8th).
One nurse on duty said she alerted the authorities after seeing smoke streaming out of the hospital’s Newborn Care Unit. Multiple explosions inside the ward prevented early rescue attempts, local media report.
Bhandara is 62km (39 miles) from the north-eastern city of Nagpur, one of the largest cities of Maharashtra, and is home to around 1.2 million people.
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Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...
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