New Delhi: The Baby Care New Born Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar, where a fire accident late Saturday night resulted in the deaths of six newborns, was operating without a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department, ThePrint has learnt.
The Delhi Police has registered a case in connection with the incident under IPC sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 336 (any reckless or negligent action that puts human life in danger or threatens personal safety) and 34 (common intention). The owner of the Baby Care New Born hospital, Dr Naveen Kichi, has been booked as an accused.
Speaking to ThePrint Sunday, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said, “No NOC was issued by the Fire services to this hospital. The matter is currently under investigation if the building required NOC and why wasn’t it issued.”
“We will be checking if the building is 9 metres and above. As per fire safety rules, hospitals of 9 metres and above have to have a Fire NOC certificate,” he added.
According to police and fire department sources, all the building documents of the children’s hospital in Vivek Vihar are being checked.
“The fire seems to have started from a cylinder blast. The cylinders were being filled for oxygen. At least four cylinders exploded,” a source said.
According to DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary, at approximately 11.30 pm Saturday, a PCR call regarding a fire was received at Vivek Vihar police station. Upon arrival, officers discovered a blaze at the two-storeyed hospital and an adjacent structure.
“There were 12 newborns admitted to the hospital and one was already dead before the fire incident. The newborns were rescued with the help of other people and shifted to East Delhi Advance NICU Hospital, Vivek Vihar, for treatment. Meanwhile, fire tenders reached the spot and the blaze was controlled,” he told ThePrint.
Of the 12 newborns, one had died before the blaze, while six were declared dead on arrival. All seven bodies have been shifted to GTB Hospital for postmortem, the DCP said, adding that “legal action is being taken against the hospital owner Naveen Kichi”.
Terming the incident “heartbreaking,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) Sunday and said, “We all stand with those who lost their innocent children in this accident”
This is an updated version of the report
(With inputs from Mayank Kumar)
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Also Read: Porsche case triggers action, Kanpur minor who ‘ran over’ 2 apprehended after 7 month delay