A fire broke out in a warmer at the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Chhindwara District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh in the intervening on Saturday night, injuring three newborn babies. One of the injured babies later died at Jabalpur Medical College, where all three were referred for better treatment.
According to Civil Surgeon Kanchan Dubey, sparking occurred in the warmer used to keep newborn babies, causing the machine to catch fire. Three babies kept in the warmer suffered burn injuries. The hospital provided them immediate treatment before referring all three to Jabalpur for further care due to their serious condition.
There were 33 babies in the SNCU when the incident occurred. Hospital staff quickly removed the other babies from the unit and shifted them to another ward, helping prevent further casualties.
Dubey said the incident appeared to be an accidental case and that she did not see any negligence. She said the administration would investigate the incident.
Chhindwara Medical College Dean Dr Abhay Kumar said the fire broke out in the warmer at night due to sparking. Two staff members immediately used a fire extinguisher to control the flames, disconnected the oxygen supply and removed the blankets. They then shifted the babies to another SNCU.
Dr Kumar said generally babies are not admitted to the SNCU and that the unit treats seriously ill newborns. He said the baby who died was also a very serious patient and had a shifted heart, adding that the death was tragic.
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Published By:
Akshat Trivedi
Published On:
Aug 23, 2026 10:13 IST
