Father who saved babies in Jhansi hospital fire lost his own twins. ‘Couldn’t see them in thick smoke’

Yakoob Mansuri was among the men hailed as heroes for rescuing many babies, but he lost his own twin daughters in the fire. The babies rescued are now struggling to breathe, drink milk.

Poonam, mother of an 18-day old, rescued from the fire and admitted to the paediatric ward of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, in the waiting area | Photo: Shikha Salaria, ThePrint

Jhansi: “There was only a small opening to the inner unit of the SNCU (sick newborn care unit). The entrance is barely large enough for one person to go through. We started feeling nauseous within minutes. How could the babies have endured it?” said 27-year-old Yakoob Mansuri.

Mansuri, an almirah maker from Hamirpur’s Rath tehsil, was among the men who became heroes for several families, rescuing babies from the devastating fire that engulfed the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi Friday.

The college is one of the largest government hospitals in the state’s Bundelkhand region. The fire may have started due to an electrical short circuit, fire department officials have said.

Alongside young men like Pushpendra Yadav, Lalit Yadav, and Kripal Singh—being celebrated on social media—Mansuri saved several newborns. Yet, he lost his own newborn twin daughters, born just days earlier on 9 November, in the fire.

Speaking to ThePrint, Mansuri recounted the tragic events of that night. He had brought his wife, Najma Bano, and his twin daughters to the medical college after the babies were referred from the Orai district hospital for specialised care due to breathing difficulties.

“A woman who had been feeding her child inside the SNCU suddenly emerged from inside screaming about the fire. That’s when we got up and attempted to enter the unit. There was no way we could enter inside the inner unit and had to break the window of the outer unit. It was too hot inside and smoke had filled in the entire unit. I, along with my brother-in-law Rano Mohammed, started handing over the babies kept in the outer unit to those pulling out the children from the window,” he said.

All the while, he clung to the hope of finding his own babies alive.

“There was no way to identify our own babies in the thick smoke that had engulfed the entire unit,” Mansuri said. “The outer section had only one exit door, and later, we discovered another door at the back—which was locked. The inner unit had a narrow door, barely wide enough for one person to enter at a time, let alone four or five together. Within minutes, we started vomiting. How could the babies have endured it? Their lives ended.”

He recounted that several babies had already died by the time the fire brigade arrived, and later, charred bodies were recovered from the unit.

A building of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi where the paediatric ward is located | Shikha Salaria, ThePrint

After much insistence, the hospital administration finally informed Mansuri that his children were among those lost in the fire.

“We had been repeatedly requesting the hospital staff to let us see our babies, but they told us we could see them Saturday. We never imagined, not even in our worst dreams, that we would see our babies in the condition they were in at the post-mortem house,” said Mansuri.

Narendra Singh Sengar, Principal of the medical college, told ThePrint that out of the total 49 babies that were admitted to the medical college SNCU, 11 have been discharged, while 11 have been confirmed as dead. 10 had died at the spot, and another died while under treatment in the paediatric unit Sunday.

“Six babies are in private nursing homes while one is in the district hospital. One has returned home with his parents in Mauranipur and the remaining 20 are currently under treatment at the medical college,” he said.

Of the 20 babies under care at the medical college, two are in critical condition.

Neelu and Kuldeep, parents of a baby boy admitted to the paediatric ward of Jhansi medical college after the fire | Shikha Salaria, ThePrint

Parents of those still at the hospital reported that due to the smoke that had filled the unit, some of the babies are now struggling to breathe.

“My daughter was born on 26 October and was admitted to the outer unit of the SNCU. The doctors are saying she’s having trouble breathing. This has happened due to the smoke that filled the unit Friday,” said Suraksha, whose daughter is currently receiving treatment at the medical college.

Vishal Ahirwar, a relative of another baby admitted to the medical college and one of the individuals who entered the SNCU on Friday, shared that even a day later, on Saturday, he could still taste the smoke in his mouth.

“When it can enter our system, what must it have done to the babies who are so weak? All my clothes had become black from smoke and there was smoke residue in my mouth as late as even on Saturday,” he said.

Parvati Ahirwar, the grandmother of one of the babies admitted to the medical college, shared that the baby had been born prematurely to her daughter Radha and had been feeding on milk.

“He drank milk around 1 am after being saved from the fire, but now he’s not drinking and barely moving. He has been coughing, and the doctors say he’s in serious condition and struggling to breathe,” Parvati said, adding that the baby has been crying since he was rescued.