“Fire tragedy at a hospital in Delhi is heart-rending,” says PM Modi

Narendra Modi. Pic/PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reacted to the fire tragedy that happened at a hospital at East Delhi. He expressed his condolences and said that the incident is heart-rending and his thoughts are with the families and parents in this incredibly difficult time, as reported by PTI.

"The fire tragedy at a hospital in Delhi is heart-rending. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this incredibly difficult time. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest," Modi said in a post on X.

A massive fire broke out at East Delhi's children's hospital and the incident ended up killing seven newborns. This shocking incident happened at Vivek Vihar area of East Delhi. An FIR has been registered against the owner of the hospital by the Delhi police.

A senior police officer said the fire broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital and its adjacent building at around 11:30 pm on Saturday.

The newborns were shifted to another hospital for medical treatment. Six newborns were declared dead and one died during the treatment. The bodies have been shifted to the GTB Hospital for postmortem.

President Droupadi Murmu also expressed condolences for the newborns who died in the incident.

"The news of death of many children due to fire in a hospital in Vivek Vihar, Delhi is heart-rending. May God give strength to the bereaved parents and relatives to bear this shock. I pray for the speedy recovery of other children injured in this incident," the president said in a post on X in Hindi.

Sixteen fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze, Divisional Fire Officer Rajendra Atwal said.

"Oxygen cylinders kept in the two-storey building exploded due to which the adjacent buildings were damaged", he said.

Another fire official said two boutiques, a portion of IndusInd Bank operating from an adjacent building and a shop on the ground floor were also damaged besides an ambulance and a scooty parked outside the building.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said those responsible for negligence will not be spared. In a post on X, Kejriwal said the government stood with those who lost their children in the fire incident, and added the administration was ensuring proper treatment to the injured.

(With inputs from PTI)