Amravati : Fresh allegations have surfaced after CCTV footage emerged regarding the District Women’s Hospital fire that killed three infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) last month. Former minister of state Sunil Deshmukh of Congress alleged that the footage shows that two nurses sleeping in the lobby outside the ward didn’t wake even as the fire alarm rang thrice.
Red warning lights also flashed, said Deshmukh while demanding a thorough probe into the matter.
He said, on Aug 24, at 2.50 am, a ventilator exploded in the NICU of the hospital, triggering a massive fire. He also alleged that the fire-control system in the hospital was of inferior quality, and the fire brigade tenders arrived only at 3.30 am. On the same day, an 11-member high-level committee headed by commissioner of National Health Mission was constituted.
“The footage shows the nurses waking up screaming after hearing the explosion, after which other staff rush in and try to control the fire using small fire extinguishers,” he said. He said there is a discrepancy between the claims made by the govt regarding the fire and the actual ground reality. State health minister Prakash Abitkar had rushed to Amravati and inspected the hospital after the fire.
Deshmukh presented the footage in front of the media on Wednesday.