Fire in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar hospital NICU; 58 patients, 9 newborns rescued

A fire broke out early Friday in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Asian Hospital in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, prompting the rescue of 58 patients, including nine newborn babies.

The incident occurred around 2:15 a.m. after a short circuit in an air-conditioning unit in the NICU. Hospital staff noticed smoke emanating from the AC and immediately activated a 'code red' alert, evacuating the newborns. The fire was brought under control before it could spread further.

"The duty staff noticed smoke coming out of AC and immediately activated the code red, using their presence of mind, and evacuated the newborns. The fire due to a short circuit was controlled in time," said Shoaib Hashmi, Managing Director of Asian Hospital. He added that the newborns were shifted to nearby Ghati Hospital, MGM Hospital, and Sanjeevani Hospital with their guardians' permission.

The Padampura Fire Department received the call at 2:27 a.m., and a team from the CIDCO Fire Department rushed to the spot with fire tenders. Chief Fire Officer Ashok Khandekar said a major disaster was averted due to the timely action that brought the fire under control.

This is the second fire in a NICU in Maharashtra within ten days. On August 26, a similar incident at Dufferin Hospital in Amravati district claimed the lives of three newborns.