'Staff kept incident hidden for 4-5 hours': Newborn baby charred to death in Kanpur hospital fire

KANPUR: In a tragic incident, a newborn girl died after a fire broke out in the NICU of a private hospital in Kanpur’s Bithoor area on Sunday evening.

Arun Nishad, a private employee from Bakarganj, had taken his pregnant wife Bittu to Raja Hospital for delivery. She gave birth to a daughter around 4 pm, and the baby was shifted to the NICU.


Later in the evening, a fire broke out in the NICU due to a short circuit.

“The bed where my daughter was lying caught fire. My daughter was severely injured in the fire and died on the spot. Hospital staff kept this incident hidden for 4-5 hours. But when I insisted on seeing my daughter, the staff told us about the incident. Subsequently, we informed the police.”

The family went ballistic after the death, creating a huge ruckus at the hospital.

The police were called in via 112, and a team from Bithoorpolice station rushed to the scene.

Bithoor police station incharge Ashok Saroj said: “The newborn was admitted to the NICU. The child was severely burned due to fire in the NICU, leading to her death. A case will be registered and action will be taken, once we will receive a complaint.”