Delhi hospital fire: Families yet to identify babies, parents recall horror

Twelve newborns were rescued from the facility but seven of them died.

In the aftermath of the devastating fire that killed seven newborn babies in Delhi, families are struggling to identify their children.

"Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," said a father, whose 11-day-old daughter died.

Ruhi, a 17-day-old baby, was admitted to the hospital two days ago due to a fever and died in the fire. Her mother said, "Yesterday I met my baby, and this morning, we received information about the fire. Since then, we have been trying to find out about her". "We admitted her to this hospital to improve her health but we didn’t know that this hospital would take away our only child," she said.

"They removed all her necklaces, including her 'Najar ki mala'. When they took her in, she was just wearing a diaper," she said. Ruhi was born on May 10, and her family lives in Karkardooma.

A fire broke out at Baby Care New Born Hospital around 11:30 PM on May 25, officials of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said.

Masialam, a labourer and a father of one of the fire victims lamented, "I have lost my newborn son. What kind of facilities do they have? You can ask the parents who have sold their jewellery or took money on interest for the treatment of their kids".

"I am a labourer and after finding out that the child, who was born in Manglam Hospital, had an infection, we admitted him to this hospital. I have a three-year-old daughter and lost a son around five years back," he said.

Parvinder Kumar, the relative of another fire victim, said, We have not even informed the mother yet. Kumar said, "This was the first child of my relative, Pawan Kumar. We have no idea how the incident unfolded. The girl was born around six days ago at a hospital in Ghaziabad and was admitted to the care centre the same day. She was having breathing issues when she was born and was showing improvement in the care centre. Our relative called us around 9 am and informed us about the incident. The negligence was on the hospital's part".

Twelve newborns were rescued from the facility but seven of them died. Five babies are undergoing treatment at another hospital, they said. Delhi Police has booked him under sections 336 (act endangering the life of personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC at Vivek Vihar police station.

Police have arrested Dr. Naveen Kichi, the owner of Baby Care New Born Hospital, who had been on the run since the fire outbreak. Kichi has been booked under sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. The neonatal hospital was operating despite the expiry of its license. It also did not have qualified doctors and lacked clearance from the fire department, police said.

*With Agency Inputs