Mumbai: Three newborns died when a fire broke out early Monday in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Women’s Hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati.
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 have been shifted to a super specialty hospital.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on social media platform X that the government had ordered an inquiry into the fire. “Orders have been issued to the health administration to conduct a high-level inquiry into this incident,” he said, adding that both the health minister and secretary of the department have been instructed to visit Amravati Monday.
He also said the state government would provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased. “Instructions have also been given to the Amravati District Collector to provide treatment to the injured children at government expense. Fortunately, 36 children were successfully rescued unharmed in this incident,” the chief minister said.
अमरावती येथील जिल्हा स्त्री रुग्णालयात काल रात्री लागलेल्या आगीत तीन बालकांचा मृत्यू झाल्याची घटना अतिशय दुःखद आणि हृदयद्रावक आहे. त्यांच्या कुटुंबियांच्या दुःखात आम्ही सहभागी आहोत.
या घटनेची उच्चस्तरीय चौकशी करण्याचे आदेश आरोग्य प्रशासनाला देण्यात आले आहेत. या घटनेतील दोषींवर…
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) August 24, 2026
Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule expressed grief over the incident and ordered an inquiry into this matter. “I have ordered an enquiry into this matter. Injured are being treated and they will get all the necessary medical assistance,” he told the media.
The Opposition, meanwhile, demanded an audit of all government hospitals in Maharashtra to avoid such a tragedy in the future.
Congress CLP leader Vijay Wadettiwar wrote on X, “If there is negligence regarding fire safety arrangements in hospitals, regular inspection of equipment, and maintenance of oxygen and electrical systems, then whose responsibility is it? No need for a drama of inquiry after innocent lives are lost; fix the accountability and take strict action against the guilty.”
NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, too, demanded a thorough probe and audits of all hospitals in the state. “A thorough investigation of the entire matter must be conducted, and the strictest possible action must be taken against those responsible. Along with this, there is a need to conduct fire audits of all government and private hospitals in Maharashtra, as well as safety audits of medical equipment,” she wrote on X.
अमरावती जिल्हा स्त्री रुग्णालयात NICU विभागातील व्हेंटिलेटरमध्ये स्फोट झाल्याने लागलेल्या आगीत ३ नवजात अर्भके मृत्युमुखी पडली तर आणखी काही गंभीर आहेत. हि अतिशय हृदयद्रावक घटना आहे. आई-वडील आपल्या बाळाची आतुरतेने वाट पाहत असतात पण त्याच बालकाला अशा पद्धतीने गमावावे लागले तर…
— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) August 24, 2026
Also Read: 17 years on, why Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project remains trapped between potholes & politics
What happened at the NICU?
The NICU has three sections: one for outborn births referred from other hospitals, another for inborn births (newborns delivered at the hospital), and a step-down section for newborns ready to be discharged.
The incident took place at the outborn births’ section where two nurses were on duty, tending to nine newborns. The nurses said a ventilator exploded and the entire ward was engulfed in smoke. The nurses managed to rescue six newborns who were later transferred to a super specialty hospital, but three others died.
“We tried to save them all as soon as the fire broke out. Soon the ward was full of smoke, and we could not even see the babies, but even in that moment, we tried to take out the cradles. It was a difficult situation,” one of the nurses told the media.
The nurses said that once the ventilator exploded, the fire intensified because of the oxygen cylinders in the room.
Dr Vinod Pawar of the District Women’s Hospital told the media he rushed to the hospital immediately after he received a call from one of the staff saying a fire broke out in the outborn section. “When I reached, the nurses had already taken six babies out, and three were inside. We tried to go into the ward, but the fire was so massive we couldn’t go in. We broke the window to let the fire escape and tried to extinguish it with a fire hose. But the fire could not be contained,” he said.
Yashomati Thakur, the Congress leader from Amravati and guardian minister of the district in the previous MVA government, criticised the Mahayuti, saying that when she was a minister, she had sanctioned a new building for this hospital. “I don’t want to get into the politics. But who was the supplier? Was there a fault in the inverter? Was there any electrical fault? Why did the ventilator explode? This means it was low grade and somebody took a commission in this, and this is completely the fault of the government,” she told the media.
“The patients who come here are poor people, so why is the government neglecting the poor areas? Sometimes, girls get killed because of snakebite at a government residential school, sometimes babies die in a government hospital. What really is happening? ‘Inframan’ should look into this,” she added.
She also alleged that the fire audit of the hospital had not been conducted timely and that proper fire safety norms were not in place.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: From Bollywood icon to cash-strapped utility: Mumbai’s red buses get a Rs 28,000-crore rescue plan