Infant critical in Rourkela hospital fire

Rourkela: A six-day-old infant sustained critical burn injuries in a major fire mishap at a private hospital in Rourkela, police said on Saturday.

The infant was injured after fire broke out in the newborn ward of the hospital located at civil township in the wee hours today.

"We do not know what exactly happened. The entire room was filled with smoke and my baby sustained critical injuries in the incident," said Manoj Das, father of the injured infant.

According to reports, the infant was injured after the bulb of the photo therapy machine exploded and the machine caught fire which subsequently engulfed the newborn ward.

"The baby was kept in the machine for treatment of jaundice when the bulb equipment exploded due to suspected short-circuit," said director of Om Appolo Hospital, Ajit Singh.

Though the authorities of the hospital swung into action and shifted other babies to another ward, the six-day-old infant sustained nearly 50 percent injuries in the fire mishap.

"The mishap occurred at around 5 am. There were three infants inside the ward and the situation was brought under control by a nurse and two attendants," said Fayal Ahmed, an attendant.

Ahmed further said that the situation was brought to control by the hospital staff by using fire extinguishers.

Meanwhile, the injured infant was shifted to Astha hospital and later admitted to IGH for advanced treatment, hospital officials said.