Former CM Arvind Kejriwal condoles death of new-born babies in Jhansi Hospital fire
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday expressed condolences on the death of the ten newborn babies due to the fire at the Jhansi Medical College.
Taking to social media X, Kejriwal wrote in a post "The incident of the tragic death of 10 newborn babies due to fire in Jhansi Medical College is very painful. The whole country stands with the bereaved families in this difficult time."
The incident occurred after a massive fire broke out at the Neonatal Intensive care unit (NICU) of the college on Friday late evening, as per officials.
50 newborn children were being treated at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of the kin of each deceased in the mishap.
"PM Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF for the next of kin of each deceased in the mishap in the fire accident at Jhansi Medical College in Uttar Pradesh. The injured would be given Rs 50,000," posted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on X. (ANI)
The incident has left grieving families scrambling for answers with many of them uncertain about the fate of their babies.
Rani Sen, a resident of Narayan Bagh in Jhansi, is the aunt of a baby who was in the NICU at the time of the fire. She has been searching for answers ever since the incident. "It is being said my child is dead, but no one has told me on what basis," she said, adding, "After the fire, they were saying, 'Go in and take your children.' But by then, many of the children had already died in the fire."
Speaking to ANI, Rani further questioned the identification process used by the hospital. "They say it's based on the tags on the children. If the identification is based on tags, what about the child I found, who had no tag? I admitted that child under my name to Dr Kuldeep Trivedi's care in the ICU, and he is safe now. But that child is not mine. I informed them of this as well."
Rani then demanded proof of her baby's death and called for DNA tests to identify the victims. "If I hadn't told them I had someone else's child, would they even know it wasn't mine?" she inquired.
She also recounted how the hospital had previously denied her access to her child, citing concerns about potential infection. "For 3-4 days, my child was admitted there. They never allowed us to see the child or go inside. They kept saying the child might get an infection. And now they've declared my child dead. How can I believe this?" she asked.
Rani urged the authorities to bring all surviving children together for identification. "All the children in Jhansi's hospitals should be brought in, and parents should be allowed to identify their own children. If anyone can't identify their child, then a DNA test should be done," she said.
