Hospital Fire Kills Infants

Tragedy struck a government hospital in northern India Saturday, as a fire erupted within the hospital. There were five fatalities, and all of the victims were infants less than two weeks of age.

The fire started roughly around four in the morning. According to Surinder Singh, the medical superintendent of the Rajendra hospital in the Punjab, the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the babies incubators. All of the infants were in the photo therapy unit, receiving treatment for jaundice. Jaundice is a disorder that causes yellowing of the skin in infants, but can be treated with light therapy.

Many of the infants' mothers were only rooms away when the incident occurred but unaware of what was going on. Singh stated that the hospital staff reacted instantaneously to save the infants, but the fire was just too quick and it wasn't possible to save all the infants.

As tragic as the incident was, five other infants were luckily saved from the fire. Three of the saved infants are now being treated for burns caused by the fire. The prime minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Bada, has ordered an inquiry and investigation into the fire, and India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has expressed his remorse for the families and pledged 100,000 rupees (2,040 US dollars) to assist the grief stricken families with funeral costs and anything else they may need.