Delhi Hospital fire: Expired license, no emergency exits in the baby centre, reveals police
The Delhi Police apprehended Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of the medical facility, on Sunday.
The license of Baby Care New Born hospital in East Delhi's Vivek Vihar, where a massive fire killed seven newborn babies and injured five other infants, expired on March 31, the Delhi Police said.
The police further informed that the license issued to the medical facility was allowed for 5 beds only, but at the time of the fire incident, 12 newborn children were admitted to the hospital.
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Additionally, the doctors appointed at the hospital were not qualified to treat a newborn child in need of Neo-Natal Incentive care, as they are BAMS degree holders only.
Further, several loopholes were found in the medical facility such as no emergency exit and absence of fire extinguishers installed in the hospital.
Director of the Delhi Fire Department, Atul Garg also said that the building most likely did not possess a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the Fire Department.
Delhi children's hospital fire: Police apprehends Baby care centre owner
"I cannot explain this completely yet; most likely, the authorities did not possess a No-Objection Certificate (NOC)," news agency ANI quoted Garg as saying.
According to a report by India Today, the hospital has even a history of criminal negligence. The owner Naveen Khichi was booked for alleged mistreatment of an infant during treatment at the nursing home.
In 2021, it was discovered that the hospital was not registered under the Delhi Nursing Home Act. However, authorities imposed a fine, and when the fine was paid, treatment started again, the report added.
According to the fire department officials, the blaze broke out at the hospital at around 11:30 pm on Saturday and soon spread to two other adjacent buildings, claiming the lives of at least seven babies and five other babies undergoing treatment who have received minor burn injuries.
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He further said that it was a very tough operation. “We made two teams. One team started firefighting because there was a blast of cylinders, we can say the chain of blast of cylinders. So, we had to save ourselves also. We started rescue operations for babies as well," he added.
The Delhi Police apprehended Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of the medical facility, on Sunday. Kichi, who had been absconding after the incident, has been detained and is being taken to Vivek Vihar police station in Shahdara.
Deputy Commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary has said that the owner has been booked under sections 336 (act endangering life of personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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Several leaders including President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal condoled the death of the children and prayed for strength to the bereaved parents. Meanwhile, the NCPCR has deployed a team to probe into the fire incident.
(With inputs from ANI)