Fire at K’taka hospital, 26 newborns rescued

Twenty-six newborns were rescued after a minor fire broke out at a district general hospital here on Wednesday, the police said.

An explosion in an air-conditioner due to suspected short-circuit triggered the fire and filled the neonatal intensive care unit with smoke but alert doctors and hospital staff acted swiftly and shifted the infants, police said.

“All 26 infants were transferred to private hospitals. No infant has been affected by the incident. Short-circuit in the AC is suspected to have caused the blast,” District Surgeon Nalini Namoshi said.

An air-conditioner exploded but the hospital staff acted fast and rescued the infants, IGP (North-East Zone) B Shivakumar said.

A fire tender was rushed to the spot and the fire was put out, police said.