Adilabad SNCU fire: toll climbs to five as two more premature infants die
Two more premature infants died on Tuesday night, taking the death toll in the RIMS Adilabad SNCU fire to five, officials said.
The death toll from the fire at the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Telangana's Adilabad district has risen to five, after two more infants died on Tuesday night.
According to Adilabad District Medical and Health Officer Sadhana, the two were premature babies, born between 26 and 28 weeks of gestation, and each weighed about one kilogram.
The fire broke out around 11.40 p.m. on September 21, when an air conditioner in the reception area of the SNCU burst into flames. A five-day-old infant died in the incident, and another four-day-old infant died a few hours later. A third infant, a girl, was declared dead while being shifted to a nearby hospital.
Twenty-five infants were rescued from the unit and moved to government and private hospitals in the vicinity, where they are under treatment and being monitored by medical teams.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the fire. Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha visited RIMS Adilabad on Tuesday, met the families of the affected infants and assured them of the government's support. He also reviewed the condition of the infants shifted to other hospitals, sought updates from doctors on their health, and directed that they receive the best possible care and close monitoring.