Several infants died in a fire in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi

Jhansi: After many babies were killed in a fire that broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Jhansi’s Maharamni Laxmi Bai Medical College, the parents and relatives of the newborns are searching for their lost children and are yearning for answers and responsibility.

Over fifty neonates were receiving treatment in the NICU when the fire broke out late on Friday night. Many of the bereaved families are still unsure about what will happen to their infants, and the awful event has left them frantically seeking answers.

The aunt of a baby in the NICU during the fire is Rani Sen, who lives in Jhansi’s Narayan Bagh. Since the event, she has been looking for answers. “They were saying, ‘Go in and take your children,’ after the fire,” she said. “It is being said my child is dead, but no one has told me on what basis,” she added. However, a large number of the kids had already perished in the fire at that point.

Rani also questioned the hospital’s identification procedure in an interview with media. “They claim that it is determined by the children’s tags. What about the youngster I discovered who didn’t have a tag if identification is dependent on tags? That infant is now secure after I sent him to Dr. Kuldeep Trivedi’s care in the intensive care unit under my name. I don’t own that kid, however. I also told them about this.

Rani then sought for DNA testing to identify the victims and demanded evidence of her baby’s death. “If I hadn’t told them I had someone else’s child, would they even know it wasn’t mine?” she said.

She also described how, in the past, the hospital had refused to let her see her kid because of possible infection concerns. “My kid was hospitalized there for three or four days. We were never permitted to enter or view the kid. They repeatedly warned that the infant may get infected. My kid has now been pronounced deceased. She questioned, “How can I believe this?”

Rani asked the authorities to gather all of the children who were still alive so they could be identified. “All of the kids in the hospitals in Jhansi need to be brought in, and parents ought to be able to recognize their own kids. “A DNA test should be performed if no one is able to identify their child,” she said.

Another woman from Mahoba district’s Parsaha village, Santoshi, is still looking for her 10-day-old child who was in the NICU. She spoke about how terrified and powerless she felt throughout the fire.

I have no idea where my kid is. I was unable to enter the building to save my infant when the fire started. How was I able to? How could anybody give me my kid when no one could enter? She told media report, “Everyone was running around in panic.”
“There were a lot of babies inside when the fire started, and it appears that the babies didn’t make it out alive,” Santoshi said. Some infants were unsalvageable. Whether they were rescued or burnt is unknown. Nobody is aware of the children’s fate. My first child was this one.

She said that she had not been able to visit her kid before to the fire because of the hospital. “No, my kid wasn’t shown to me. I visited, but nothing occurred. I couldn’t even adequately search for my kid after the fire. She added, “I looked, but I couldn’t locate him.

The commotion of the fire was recalled by a Rajgarhi woman whose 20–25-day-old granddaughter was in the NICU. “Everyone hurried when the fire started, and my kid was in the intensive care unit. No one was able to enter because the nurses were forcing people out. Whoever was able to seize a youngster did so when someone somehow got inside. A few of them entered via the windows. “My child has not yet been located,” she said.

Another Lalitpur resident who was mourning also spoke about her experience. “Our newborn was admitted here for a month,” the mother stated. Following a surgery yesterday, the infant was taken to the intensive care unit.

She said, “The fire started at ten o’clock in the evening. We hurried to remove the infant, but we were halted. We searched for a long time but were unable to locate the infant. We eventually learned that the infant had perished in the fire.