Click to play videoPatiala: In Patiala, five little babies - some of them less than a week old burnt to death - when the incubator that was meant to protect them caught fire. Tragically the fire was caused by negligence say officials.
The fire broke out in the neo-natal unit of Patiala's Rajindera Hospital around 3:30 am on Saturday. Of the ten infants in the unit who were undergoing treatment for post-birth jaundice, five were burnt to death and the remaining suffered burn injuries.
The grandmother of one of the baby girls who died, Balbir Kaur says, "We were trying to pull the babies out of the incubator after the fire broke out but we could not save all."
Preliminary reports said the fire was caused by a malfunction in the phototherapy unit which emits ultraviolet light for treating jaundice. The Punjab government has ordered a judicial probe.
Patiala DSP, Manjeet Singh said the initial investigation points to a short circuit. "We are still checking," he stated.
The incubator caught fire so fast that neither the hospital staff nor the bystanders could do much.
We were sitting there but by the time we realised what was happening, our child was gone," said Lakhwinder Singh whose baby died in the fire.
In Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who watched the news of the accident on CNN-IBN from his hospital bed in AIIMS immediately announced a relief of Rs 1 lakh each to the family of the infants who lost their lives.
He has directed that assistance be provided from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
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