Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, November 16, condoled the death of 10 newborns who perished in a fire accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi Medical College the previous night.
An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was announced for the kin of each deceased while Rs 50,000 for the injured.
In an X post, the prime minister expressed heart wrenching and said that the state government is “making all possible efforts to relief and rescue.”
“Heartbreaking! The fire accident at Jhansi Medical College in Uttar Pradesh is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to those who lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this immense loss,” Modi was quoted as saying in a post in Hindi on X by the PM Modi’s office.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased children and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
“The death of children in an accident that took place in the NICU of the medical college located in Jhansi district is extremely sad and heartbreaking. District administration and concerned officials have been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing,” he posted in Hindi on X.
On Friday night, a fire broke out at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, leading to the death of 10 newborns and 16 others critically injured. About 30 children were in the interior section of the NICU and most of them were rescued.
Chief minister Yogi Adiyanath directed divisional commissioner Bimal Kumar Dubey and deputy inspector general (Jhansi police range) Kalanidhi Naithani to submit a report on the matter within 12 hours.
Preliminary investigations revealed a short circuit triggered the fire mishap. However, a detailed investigation has been launched to ascertain under what condition the incident occurred.
“The medical college has informed that 52 to 54 children were admitted at the time of the incident. 10 of them have died, 16 are undergoing treatment while verification for others is ongoing,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jhansi Sudha Singh said.
