At least six babies were killed in a fire that ravaged a children’s hospital in New Delhi on Saturday, police in the Indian capital announced on Sunday.
A dozen newborns were taken from the hospital during the disaster, but six of them were already dead when they were treated by doctors, said a local police officer, Surendra Choudhary. A seventh baby among the twelve newborns extracted had died before the fire, he further specified.
“Legal proceedings are initiated against the owner of the hospital”, said Mr. Choudhary. He did not detail how the children died.
A “heartbreaking” situation
The fire, which mobilized fourteen fire trucks, broke out late Saturday afternoon at the New Born Baby Care hospital in New Delhi. “The fire spread too quickly due to the explosion of an oxygen cylinder”city fire chief Atul Garg told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
Evoking a situation “heartbreaking”Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned that “the person responsible for this negligence will not be spared”. “We all stand in solidarity with those who lost their innocent children in this accident”he added on social networks.