New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday said the east Delhi children hospital fire which left seven newborns dead is heart-rending and warned that those responsible for negligence will not be spared.
Health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also said strictest punishment will be given to those found negligent or involved in any wrongdoing.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said the government stood with those who lost their children in the fire incident in Vivek Vihar, and added the administration was ensuring proper treatment to the injured.
He said the reasons behind the fire were being probed and those found negligent will not be spared.
The officials of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said the blaze broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Shahdara on Saturday night.
Twelve newborns were rescued from the medical facility but seven of them died, DFS chief Atul Garg said. Five babies are undergoing treatment at another hospital, he said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry. In an order issued on Sunday, Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar directed the district magistrate of the Shahdara district to inquire into the fire tragedy that occurred on Saturday night.
“And whereas it is essential to cause a magisterial inquiry into the aforesaid incident. Now therefore, District Magistrate (Shahadra)/Chairman, District Disaster Management Authority is hereby directed to inquire into the said fire tragedy so as: To ascertain the circumstances that led to the fire tragedy.
“To fix the responsibility on the persons responsible for the said incident. To suggest the measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future,” it said. The order directed that the inquiry report be submitted “as expeditiously as possible”.
Lt Governor VK Saxena on Sunday directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to “institute an inquiry”. “Have asked the chief secretary to institute an inquiry into the tragic incidents of fire in children’s hospital in Delhi. Also instructed CP (commissioner of police) to ensure all that is needful,” Saxena said in a post on X. “My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families.”
“I assure all relief and will ensure that guilty are brought to book,” Saxena added.
In a post on X, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson (NCPCR) Priyank Kanoongo said the commission has taken cognisance of the fire incident and the newborns’ deaths.
An NCPCR team will visit the hospital to investigate the incident, Kanoongo said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the fire tragedy at a hospital in east Delhi is “heart-rending” and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased. “The fire tragedy at a hospital in Delhi is heart-rending. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this incredibly difficult time. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest,” Modi said in a post on X.
In the wake of the fire tragedy at a hospital in Delhi, Prime Minister Modi has announced that an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) would be given to the next of kin of each deceased, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a post on X.
The PMO further said Rs 50,000 would be given to each of those injured.