What caused the fire in Bhopal hospital that killed 4 infants?

Bhopal, Nov 10: The fire accident that killed four infants at Kamla Nehru Children's Hospital was caused after a ventilator machine was plugged in, an inquiry report said on Wednesday.

"According to Paediatrics Department head Jyotsna Shrivastava, the fire broke out in SNCU, located on the third floor, at around 8.30 pm on November 8 when the duty doctor and others plugged in an electric socket to start a ventilator. It sparked and fire broke out," an official statement said, quoting the report.

As per the report, the doctor tried to dose the fire using a fire extinguisher but smoke filled the room. The smoke kept coming from the burnt ventilator and the glass panes of the windows were broken so that it could be blown away, it added.

The authorities managed to take out the children from the SNCU quickly, but four children died, it added.

Since the parents were yet to name their infants, the deceased kids were identified with reference to their parents -- Baby of Sonali (age one day), Baby of Shajia (9 day), Baby of Irfan (3 days) and Baby of Rachna (one day).

According to the report, there were 40 children in the hospital at the time of the incident. Three other children who died at the hospital on November 8 had succumbed before the fire started, as per Dr Shrivastava.

She adds that the deaths of a few other children the next day were caused due to different medical reasons. She claims that often children admitted at the hospital are prematurely born or have serious congenital disease, and the hospital treats them with utmost seriousness, she added.

The bodies of the babies have been handed over to the families after the autopsy, but one family expressed suspicion about the identity of their baby, so the body has been kept in the mortuary and DNA samples were sent for examination, the official statement said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the fire safety audit of all government and private hospitals across the state.