Seven babies die after fire breaks out at children's hospital in New Delhi
26 May 2024, 13:42 | Updated: 26 May 2024, 13:48
Seven newborn babies have died after a fire broke out at a children's hospital in India.
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Flames ripped through the building in the Vivek Vihar region of eastern New Delhi late on Saturday night.
Five others are also being treated for smoke inhalation.
So far, it is not clear how the fire started but the cause is being investigated.
Rescuers carried 12 newborns from the centre to a nearby hospital, but seven died due to smoke inhalation, fire officer Atul Garg said.
The fire on the first floor of the centre was extinguished in about an hour, said Suresh Kumar, another fire officer.
Dramatic pictures on social media show bursts of fire as it engulfed the entire building.
The new comes after at least 27 people - many of them children - were killed in a blaze at a crowded amusement park in Rajkot in western India.
The owner of the baby hospital has fled, Delhi police said.
"The causes of the incident are being investigated and whoever is responsible for this negligence will not be spared," Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on social media platform X.
