Ten newborns killed in hospital fire in Jhansi in northern India

At least 10 newborns have died in a fire at a hospital in northern India after a fire broke out in the neonatal unit.

Chaos and panic ensued as the fire spread, relatives of the infants have told local media, with parents breaking windows to enter the ward and struggling to reach their children.

“The nurses pushed people out, but those who managed to get in grabbed every child they could,” a grieving grandmother told news agency ANI.

Staff at the hospital in the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh state were able to save 44 infants, but at least 16 are in a critical condition, authorities said.

Three of the ten babies who died have yet to be identified, leaving some parents unsure of what happened to their children.

Santoshi, a new mother, is still searching for her 10-day-old baby.

“When the fire broke out, I couldn’t go in to save my baby. How could I? When no one was able to come in, how could anyone give me my baby?” she told news agency ANI.

The Friday night fire at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Hospital is being blamed on an electrical fault.

Pictures from the scene showed anxious parents outside the hospital.

Indian media reported that the fire first broke out in the intensive care unit of the infant ward at around 22:30 local time (17:00 GMT).

Local officials believe an electrical short or other malfunction in a machine used to increase oxygen levels in the ward caused the fire.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a message online calling the deaths “heartbreaking”.

“My deepest condolences to those who have lost their innocent children in this. I pray to God to give them the strength to bear this tremendous loss,” he wrote.

Officials from the Uttar Pradesh state government have announced compensation of 500,000 rupees (£4,600; $5,900) to the bereaved families.

State Deputy Minister Brajesh Pathak said a safety review of the public hospital had been carried out in February, and a fire drill as recently as June.

This is the second prominent hospital fire in India in six months in which newborns have been killed. In May six babies were killed in a fire at a private neonatal facility in Delhi.