Vivek Vihar hospital blaze incident ignites fire safety review in Delhi

Investigation yet to pinpoint cause 48 hours on

The investigation is still ongoing to ascertain what caused the fire that killed six newborns in East Delhi’s Baby Care Newborn Hospital. While officials have not ruled out a short circuit as the cause of the fire, some locals also blame blasts caused by oxygen cylinders stored on the ground floor of the baby care clinic for compounding the damage.

The incident, however, has sent ripples through the administration, which has now asked all Delhi hospitals to complete fire audits and submit compliance reports by June 8 in the aftermath of this incident.

“The Delhi government will issue directions to all private and state-run hospitals to complete a fire audit by June 8 and submit a compliance report,” Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said to news agency ANI.

The neonatal care facility situated in East Delhi’s Vivek Vihar had reported a major fire incident late Saturday night, with 12 newborns, two nurses, and one on-duty doctor reported to have been inside the building at the time of the incident.

“Initially, seven children were reported to have died in the blaze, but later we realised that one of the newborns admitted there had passed away before the incident,” an official present at the hospital’s site said.

The remaining five children have now been admitted to East Delhi Advance NICU Hospital in Vivek Vihar for further treatment.

Several locals, though, have attributed the increased damage to the supposed refilling, storing, and frequent loading and unloading of oxygen cylinders that used to take place in the front porch and reception area of the baby care facility.

“This was an accident waiting to happen,” a local resident said. He adds that people had raised several complaints at various forums, including to the Municipal Commission of Delhi, but no action was taken.

Officials investigating the blaze say that the baby care facility did not have any basic fire safety equipment like extinguishers and water hoses. “The facility was also operating beyond its permissible limit,” he added.

Addressing the media after a meeting to discuss the incident, Bhardwaj said that the newborn care facility only had permission to operate five beds.

“Their registration to run the hospital had expired in March 2024. While the facility had applied for a renewal in February this year, due to the lack of documentation submitted by them, they were given a deficiency memo,” he added.

The police arrested the hospital’s owner and the on-duty staff at the time of the fire late on Saturday.

“Both the arrested accused will be produced in Karkardooma court on Monday. The police may seek their custody for further interrogation,” an official said.

Bhardwaj added that the health department would also investigate if the clinic had the necessary permissions to refill oxygen cylinders within their premises, as is being alleged by several accounts.