The death toll from the fire at the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), located in Adilabad district, Telangana, has risen to five. Officials reported that two more infants died from their injuries on Wednesday, following the incident that occurred on Monday night. The situation has shocked the local community and raised concerns about safety protocols in healthcare facilities.
State health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who visited RIMS on Tuesday night, said an expert committee would examine the cause of the fire, any safety lapses, missed maintenance processes, and what the hospital needs to change. Twenty newborns were rescued by security guards, ambulance drivers and staffers of the institute. Rajanarasimha inspected the SNCU ward and obtained details from officials about the relief measures taken after the fire, the health condition of the babies and the treatment provided to them. The government also ordered three audits at RIMS: one for electrical safety, one for fire safety and one for the building’s structure.
Around 27 infants were being treated in incubators at SNCU when the incident took place. The health minister also announced a 150-bed Mother and Child Health building at RIMS, as part of a wider plan to develop the hospital from around 800 beds to nearly 950 and expand several departments.
A five-day old female infant died when she was being shifted to a hospital in Nirmal, while another two-weeks-old baby breathed her last during treatment at RIMS in the early hours of Wednesday, according to an official from the district medical and health department. the medical condition of two newborns is said to be critical While five of them died.
