Silent alarms, failed sprinklers, babies covered in soot: Families recount Amravati NICU fire horror A fire broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the District Women’s Hospital in Amravati, Maharashtra, early on the morning of August 19, leaving at least three newborns dead and dozens of families in despair. Eyewitnesses and hospital staff described a harrowing scene as flames engulfed the ward housing critically ill infants, with fire alarms failing to activate and sprinklers proving ineffective. Parents and security guards rushed into the smoke-filled unit to rescue soot-covered babies, while hospital staff managed to save 36 infants from the blaze. The incident, which occurred around 3:15 a.m., sparked outrage among families who accused the hospital administration of negligence. Praful Chopde, a grieving father who lost his five-day-old son in the fire, claimed the alarms did not sound during the emergency. “I had just admitted my baby and his mother to the hospital on August 19, and I was blessed with a son,” Chopde told reporters. “But now, he’s gone, and I believe the hospital’s failure to act contributed to his death.” His wife, who had not seen their newborn in five days, questioned why only the infants were harmed, with no staff injured. Swapnil Barge, another father who lost his day-old son, recounted the chaos. “I was standing at the hospital gate with a friend when I heard a woman shouting, but we were not told anything. Then there was an uproar, and the fire brigade arrived,” Barge said. “I searched for my baby and wife for hours but couldn’t find him.” Hours later, he was informed that his newborn had died. Eyewitnesses described the fire spreading rapidly through the NICU ward, with flames consuming the first floor where many infants were admitted.#amravati #district_womens_hospital #praful_chopde #swapnil_barge #yogesh_savarkar
