New Delhi: The fires may have been doused immediately but the cases that followed seem to have frozen over too. Of the 29 accused named in 10 major hospital fire cases in India between 2016 and 2026, not one is in custody; all are out on bail. A total of 104 deaths were recorded in these incidents.
None of the cases have resulted in any convictions so far, though the government has taken action on fire safety measures at hospitals. Be it site engineers, hospital managers, the doctors, or hospital managers—everybody has managed to secure bail, regular or anticipatory.
The Amravati District Women’s Hospital fire early on Monday highlights a severe breach in fire safety protocols. It was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), that led to the killing of three newborns. The fire broke out at 3.30 am on the third floor of the hospital due to a suspected explosion in a ventilator.
At least 39 newborns were reportedly in the NICU at the time of the incident. Six of the nine newborns who were in the section of the NICU where the fire broke out were rescued by hospital staff and were shifted to a super specialty hospital. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the health administration to conduct a high-level inquiry into this incident.
The tragedy that unfolded in Amrawati is far from an isolated disaster. Over the past decade, near-identical fire accidents have taken place across the country. It has led to deaths, and subsequent arrests, and bail orders being issued. ThePrint looks at 10 major hospital fires–spanning multispeciality facilities to COVID-19 hospitals, and ICUs across Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.
Six killed in Muzaffarpur
Six patients died after a massive fire broke out on 4 June this year at Prasad hospital in Bihar. The blaze erupted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on the fifth floor of the hospital, located in the Muzaffarpur district. Around 20 people were evacuated from the ICU, and the remaining patients were admitted to nearby hospitals.
Ishan Raj, a criminal lawyer from Muzaffarpur, who represented the accused, told ThePrint, that after the fire accident, the hospital cleared all safety protocols. “The hospital also sought clearance from the DM.”
A senior police officer from Muzaffarpur district said that the three accused – Pankaj, the doctor in charge of the ICU, in addition to administrative manager Ram Kumar and maintenance manager Ajit Kumar—were arrested, but were later granted bail by a local court.
“The trial has not started; the hospital will likely open soon,” Raj said. “There was no negligence from the staff. The doctors actually helped in rescuing. The fire was suspectedly caused by a short circuit.”
12 killed in Cuttack
In Odisha, 12 people were killed after a major fire broke out at the Trauma Care Centre of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack in the early hours of 16 March this year. Officials said the fire broke out around 3 am on the first floor of the Trauma Care department, reportedly due to a suspected short circuit.
Most of the deceased were patients admitted to the Trauma Care ICU. Following the incident, fire safety systems were activated and three fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze. Fire personnel, hospital staff, police and attendants worked together to evacuate patients and shift them to other departments. Critically ill patients were moved to the New Medicine ICU.
A senior police officer from Cuttack told ThePrint that “12 unnatural death cases were registered, and are all under inquiry. A judicial inquiry is also underway.” There were no arrests. The incident did, however, lead to suspension of four local fire and engineering officials, and a high-level judicial inquiry.
Six killed in Jaipur (2025)
A fire broke out in the neuro trauma centre ICU’s storage room at the Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur on the second floor late on the night of 5 October last year, and soon engulfed the entire floor. It left six people dead and five injured. A senior police officer said that an inquiry was conducted by government officials and that it has concluded.
The government suspended the hospital superintendent and trauma centre superintendent executive engineer, besides cancelling the contract of S.K. Electric Company, the private agency responsible for fire safety at the hospital, and directed the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against it.
The Rajasthan High Court, while hearing a suo motu petition on a Jhalawar school collapse some months ago, made oral remarks on the SMS Hospital trauma centre fire, questioning the infrastructure of government buildings.
“What is happening in this government building? Fires are breaking out somewhere, and roofs are collapsing somewhere else,” said the bench of Justices Mahendra Goel and Ashok Jain. The court noted that the SMS trauma centre was a newly built facility, yet such an accident had taken place there.
A Medical Superintendent at the SMS hospital told ThePrint that the Home Minister sought a committee for the enquiry, which was undertaken by the Directorate Medical Education Department. “The enquiry was conducted, recommendations for fire safety were given to the hospital, and they were implemented as well. Even in the chief minister’s announcement, there was a special budget allotted to all colleges for repair work.”
He said that the hospital now has a dedicated 36-man fire team, with an assistant fire officer. There is a control room, and better strategies to detect fire. There is a fire-fighting system in place now, and training is also being given to all staff members, he said.
Seven killed in Delhi (2024)
On the night of 25 May 2024, the Baby Care New Born Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar caught fire. There were 12 newborns admitted at the centre at the time of the incident. Seven of the babies died primarily from poisoning of the air, caused by the fire that was suspected to have started from an oxygen cylinder blast at the centre. One more died later during treatment.
The Delhi Police swiftly arrested the owner of the centre, Dr Naveen Khichi, and his associate, Dr Aakash, who was managing the centre on the night of the incident, and fled the scene after the fire broke out.
The police chargesheet pointed out that Dr Khichi did not have permission from the Directorate General of Health Services to run a neonatal care centre at the time of the incident. Even the licence that had expired in March that year had allowed only five beds, compared to 12 beds, all occupied by infants at the time of the incident.
The chargesheet had also pointed out that doctors holding Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree were deployed as heads of the unit, while the norms clearly mention that the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) must have a postgraduate degree in intensive care or neonatal intensive care.
After the incident was reported, as many as 34 private nursing homes in the Capital were found by the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to be functioning without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department, 21 had expanded bed capacity without approval, and 17 lacked a valid licence from the government.
The Delhi High Court in March last year released Khichi on bail, drawing the same conclusion that he was neither present at the hospital at the time of the incident nor did the circumstances of the incident suggest that he had any “intention” or “knowledge” about the inevitability of the incident. Akash is also out on bail.
According to court records, charges are yet to be framed in the matter. A senior Delhi Police officer told ThePrint that the case is at trial stage.
18 killed in Jhansi (2024)
In November 2024, an electrical short-circuit inside the unit was suspected to be the cause of a blaze in the special newborn care unit (SNCU) at the state-run Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, leading to deaths of 18 newborns.
Of the 39 newborns rescued, eight others later succumbed to illnesses even as parents suspect their condition deteriorated due to inhalation of smoke. Back then, the Uttar Pradesh government removed the medical college’s principal and suspended three staff members after receiving a report from a four-member committee tasked with probing the fire. The medical college was denied a fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) in February.
An SNCU or NICU is a special hospital unit where babies born prematurely are kept in a highly controlled environment. Each bed in a NICU has an incubator, equipped with an overhead heater, a suction unit, phototherapy light, four or five infusion pumps and a multi-channel monitor. At the time of the incident, there were 49 newborns under care in the SNCU—as against the official capacity of 18. This would mean that four-five newborns were sharing one bed.
Devi Singh, senior criminal lawyer from Jhansi looking into this matter, told ThePrint that while a government inquiry was conducted, the principal and other authorities found negligent were removed, but no FIR was registered. “We have sent an application in the court for an FIR to be registered. As of now, the case lies in the sessions court for criminal revision.”
8 killed in Jabalpur (2022)
It was around 2.30 pm on 1 August 2022 when a fire broke out at Jabalpur City Hospital. The preliminary probe into the tragedy revealed several shortcomings regarding safety and it was found that the fire department’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the facility had expired. Prima-facie, several shortcomings were found on the part of the hospital regarding fire safety. The Jabalpur Police booked five persons, including the hospital director and proprietor Dr Nishit Gupta, Dr Suresh Patel, Dr Sanjay Patel, Dr Santosh Soni, and the hospital manager Ram Soni. All accused are out on bail.
Advocate Swapnil Ganguly who was looking into the case told ThePrint that the state government had filed the action taken report. A few officials were suspended. “The case remains pending,” he said. As per the court records, the case is a matter relating to recording of evidence in the criminal matters stage, while the sub-stage is prosecution evidence.
15 people killed in Virar (2021)
On 23 April 2021, a fire broke out at 3.13 am “due to a spark in the air-conditioning, damaging the entire facility and leading to thick smoke and darkness” at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital as per the information by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). This was a COVID-19 care facility. The fire had broken out on the second floor of the hospital, which housed the ICU ward.
Siddhesh Naik, the lawyer looking into the case, told ThePrint that the case resulted in a total of two arrests: Chief Executive Officer Dilip Bastimal Shah and Dr. Shailesh Pathak. Shah’s father Bastimal Shah had applied for anticipatory bail. “All have secured a bail in the matter. The chargesheet was filed in 2021. Trial is yet to begin in the case. Dates are going on,” Naik told ThePrint.
11 killed in Bhandup (2021)
A fire broke out at Dreams Mall in Mumbai’s Bhandup area, that housed a Covid-19 hospital at around 12 am on March 26, 2021. The fire started on the first floor of the Dreams Mall in Mumbai’s Bhandup but the smoke reached the third floor of the building housing Sunrise Hospital. According to the police, many who died in the blaze were coronavirus patients.
The accused in the case were identified as proprietor of Pona Corporation, Haresh Joshi, and Privilege Healthcare CEO Goerge Putthu Sherri. The other accused were identified as Nikita Amitsingh Trehan, Amit Singh Arvind Trehan, Rahul Padmakar Sahasrabuddhe, Rakeshkumar Kuldipsingh Wadhawan, and Sarang Rakeshkumar Wadhawan.
A total of seven people were arrested in this case, and all seven are out on bail, as per the court records. The case is currently at discharge application stage, as per the court records.
11 people killed in Andheri East (2018)
A fire broke out on the fourth floor around 4 pm on 17 December 2018 at Andheri’s ESIC Hospital, killing six and seriously injuring 14. More than 150 people were rescued from the building. The Employees State Insurance Scheme Hospital, locally known as Kamgar Hospital, in Andheri East’s Marol area is a ground plus five storey building.
A total of six accused were identified in the case. This included site supervisor Nilesh Mehta and wiring in-charge Nitin Kamble. The other accused were Bhimrao Sahdev Kamble, Mohmmad Jamil Sohel Ahmad, Halchal Kashi Mahato, and Ranjankumar Shambhu Yadav. All are out on bail as per court orders.
Charges are being heard currently in the case. Lawyer Rahul Karmerkar told ThePrint that former deputy mayor Rajesh Sharma has filed a contempt petition in the Bombay High Court to restart the ESIC Model hospital in Andheri by January this year, which was supposed to happen, but did not.
“All the hearings have happened, but the hospital did not start. Despite several years having passed, the ESIC has failed to take any effective steps to restore the functioning of the hospital, resulting in significant hardship for insured persons as well as the general public,” Karmerkar said. He said that hearing for the same is underway.
22 people killed in Bhubaneshwar (2016)
A fire broke out in the intensive care unit of the private SUM hospital in the city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha state and spread to other areas on 17 October 2016, at around 7.30 pm. It was suspected that an electrical short circuit caused the fire. Most of the victims reportedly died from smoke inhalation.
Odisha Police had arrested Dr. Manoj Ranjan Nayak, Founder/Trustee of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Trust (which runs SUM Hospital), Dr. Pushparaj Samantasinghar, Medical Superintendent, SUM Hospital, and Amulya Kumar Sahoo: Electrical Maintenance Engineer. The police had also arrested Santosh Das and Malaya Sahoo.
S. Das, a lawyer looking into the case, told ThePrint that a chargesheet was filed in the court. “The accused are out on bail. The case is progressing and is at the trial stage,” he said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
Also Read: Delhi’s deadly fires: 3 case studies, same script—swift arrests, big charges, bail & crawling trials