Maha CM meets Bhandara fire victims' kin

Bhandara: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday met kin of the newborns who died in a fire at the Bhandara district hospital the day before and said orders have been issued for conducting safety audit of all hospitals in the state.

Ten of the 17 infants, aged between one month and three months, died in the blaze erupted at the Special Newborn Care Unit of the four-storey state-run hospital here in east Maharashtra. Speaking to reporters, Thackeray said the probe will ascertain if the fire was an accident or was the fallout of ignoring an earlier safety report. He also informed that orders have been issued to check if there have been any incidents of ignoring safety norms at hospitals in the state while combating the Coronavirus pandemic.

Thackeray, who flew in from Mumbai in afternoon to Bhandara, said he met the kin of the victims, including the tribal couple Geeta Behere and Vishwanath Behere who lost their first child, a girl, in the tragedy, with folded hands.

"It was very sad and heart-wrenching incident. Imet kin of some of the deceased newborn babies. I have no words to console them, as the lives which are lost cannot be brought back. I have also inspected the spot," he said.