Ten babies, some of them days old, were killed in a fire in a hospital in India, while staff members rushed to evacuate the infirmary on Saturday morning.
Seven children were rescued from the fire before firefighters arrived at Bhandara District Hospital in western Maharashtra.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
The cause of the fire is not yet known and an investigation is ongoing.
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said initial evidence suggested that the disease may have been caused by a short circuit.
The fire started at about 2 am local time (8:30 pm GMT on Friday), according to hospital officials.
Rescue efforts were hampered by continued explosions inside the infirmary, reports in the local media. A nurse on duty said she alerted authorities after seeing smoke coming out of the hospital’s Neonatal Care Unit.
“Hospital officials rescued seven babies, but 10 died in an unfortunate incident,” district civil surgeon Pramod Khandate told reporters.
Some of the babies were only a few days old and the oldest, three months old.
In a tweet, Mr. Modi said that his thoughts were with the bereaved families.
Heart-breaking tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we lost precious young lives. My thoughts are with all bereaved families. I hope the wounded will recover as soon as possible.
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2021
India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah said he was “troubled beyond words” at the “irreparable loss”.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, adding: “My most sincere condolences to the bereaved families”.
Bhandara is 62 km (39 miles) from the city of Nagpur in the northeast – one of the largest cities in Maharashtra.