9 Infants Evacuated As Fire Erupts In NICU of Maharashtra Pvt Hospital

Nine newborns were shifted after a fire broke out in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) of a private hospital in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the early hours of Friday, the hospital administration said.

The incident occurred at Asian Hospital located in the Jalna Road area of the city in the state's Marathwada region, officials said. Nine babies, in need of intensive or specialised medical care, were in the NICU when the staff noticed smoke coming out of an AC unit, said Dr Shoeb Hashmi, who runs the



hospital.

"It was a small incident, and nothing untoward happened. As a precaution, our team evacuated the infants along with the patients in the neighbouring general ward," he said. The general ward patients were brought back later, he said. 

The doctor said that the newborns were shifted to other hospitals with the consent of their families. "The hospital team took immediate action and brought the situation under control. There were injuries in the incident. The hospital has been cleaned and is functioning as per its routine," he said.