'Why Didn't Staff Try to Save Babies,' Asks Man Who Lost Newborn in Delhi Fire

Seven newborn babies died in a fire that engulfed a private neonatal care hospital in Delhi's Vivek Vihar on 25 May.

“We hadn't named her... I gave her the name ‘Fatima’ before we buried her yesterday,” said a grieving Anzar Chaudhary, who lost his 12-day-old daughter in the fire that erupted at a neonatal hospital in East Delhi’s Vivek Vihar on Saturday, 25 May.

A resident of Kanti Nagar in East Delhi, Anzar was standing outside the charred hospital, right in front of the police cordon, when this reporter met him. He was coming straight from the cemetery where he had gone to pay homage to his deceased child.

Fatima was Anzar's third child.

Seemingly oblivious to the city's scorching heat, 40-year-old Anzar, wearing a white kurta, stood at the unfortunate site, repeatedly demanding justice.

At least seven newborn babies died in the blaze at the two-storied private facility that ran by the name of Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar.Dr

During the investigation, the police found glaring irregularities – in that, the hospital's license had expired in March this year, the doctor on duty was unqualified, no fire extinguishers were installed at the hospital, among others.

So far, the hospital's owner Dr Naveen Khichi and the doctor on duty Dr Aakash have been arrested. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under Sections 336 (acting negligently to endanger human life), 304A (causing death by negligence), 34 (common intention) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

'Found Out About the Fire 12 Hours Later’

“If they would have taken the infants with them, this catastrophe could have been saved,” Ravi Varma, an eyewitness who lives nearly 200 metres from the hospital, told The Quint.

Many other residents who The Quint spoke to alleged that the staff at the hospital ran away after the building, which is tightly cramped between houses, caught fire.

“Polling for the (Lok Sabha) elections had just got over. When I first heard the noise, I thought that someone was celebrating. But when it got louder, I went outside, and I saw the building engulfed in flames.”

Ravi Varma, 65

The police, in its statement, said they received information about the fire at 11.29 pm on 25 May and promptly reached the spot along with the fire brigade.

Police further stated that the probable cause of the fire is a short circuit. However, locals alleged that the clinic was “illegally refilling oxygen from big cylinders into smaller ones without adequate safeguard and supplying them to other facilities in the vicinity,” which could have contributed to the fire. The investigation in the case is ongoing, police said. 

“Big oxygen cylinders were lying across the road in front of the building. One cylinder flew and fell off on the road. It narrowly missed a car, carrying four.”

Ravi Varma

A day after the incident, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters, "Allegations on refilling of oxygen cylinders are being investigated – whether they had a license or not and were the owners of the nursing home involved in this."

Meanwhile, the parents, whose newborns were admitted to the neonatal facility, claimed the hospital did not inform them about the incident. Anzar told The Quint that he found out about the fire “12 hours later” – and by then it was too late.

Another parent, Rajkumar, who lost his 17-day-old daughter in the fire, said, "No one told me. I was constantly calling the hospital, but there was no answer. When I arrived here the next morning to clear my dues, I realised there had been an accident."

Both Anzar and Rajkumar were referred to the hospital by a nursing home, where their babies were delivered earlier this month. While Anzar’s daughter Fatima had swallowed dirty water, Rajkumar’s daughter Rohi had been suffering from fever and breathing difficulty.

‘No Emergency Exit, Locals Break Open Windows to Rescue Babies’ 

During the probe, the police found that the hospital neither had any fire extinguishers installed at the facility nor had an emergency exit.

Former BJP MLA Jitender Singh Shunty, who lives close by, was among the locals who helped in rescuing the infants from the facility. He claimed the hospital had violated several bylaws.  

“Houses in Vivek Vihar are spread across at least 300 metres and have two exits. The facility was built in an area of 140-odd metres and had one narrow exit – around 5 feet wide. In addition, a spiral staircase leads one to the first floor. How could anyone have broken in?” Shunty alleged to The Quint.  

Locals in the neighbourhood claimed they went to the backside of the building, brought ladders and broke open the glass window on the first floor, which led them to the nursery.  

“The heat was immense. We tied wet towels to our face and went inside to rescue the babies,” Shunty claimed.

“Jab humne bacchon ko nikala, to woh tadap rahe the. (When we rescued the babies, they were groaning),” Varma added. 

The police stated that 12 infants were rescued from the nursing station with the help of fire brigade staff and were shifted to another hospital. However, seven were declared dead on arrival and sent to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital for autopsy. 

‘If Staff Ran with Newborns, All Would’ve Been Saved’

At GTB Hospital’s mortuary, Rajkumar had been standing in the searing sun for over nine hours to receive his newborn’s body.  

“It has been nearly two days since the incident, I have not seen my baby or received her body,” he mourned, a lump in his throat. A resident of Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, Rajkumar works as a gardener. He said his wife had undergone surgery and was on bedrest. 

Meanwhile, Anzar, who's an embroiderer by profession, demanded strict punishment for the owners of the facility and the staff. 

“There were three nurses and at least two male helpers in the clinic. If these five people had picked two or three infants each when they ran, they would have been able to save all of them,” Anzar lamented. 

Forty-five-year-old Dr Naveen Khichi (MD in pediatric medicine) and his wife Dr Jagriti, who is a dentist, run the Baby Care New Born Child Hospital, police said. The facility has three other branches – one in west Delhi, and one each in Gurugram and Faridabad. 

During the investigation, the police found that Dr Aakash, 26, who was the doctor on duty, has a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) degree and “was not qualified to treat the newborns in need of neonatal incentive care.”

The police also discovered that the license issued to the neonatal facility by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), which comes under the Delhi government, had expired on 31 March this year. The police added that even as per the expired license, the facility had permission for five beds only, but at the time of incident, 12 newborns were admitted.  

While addressing the media, Bharadwaj said that facility was registered to run a five-bedded nursing home from 2021 to 2024. "They had applied for renewal in February, but their application was rejected for want of documents; a ‘deficiency memo’ was also issued to them."

"The owner has two cases against him for running a hospital without registration and irregularities discovered during a surprise visit. The cases are pending in the Karkardooma court and Tis Hazari courts.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, Delhi Health Minister

He also shared on X the copy of a letter he wrote to the Chief Secretary and Secretary of the Health Department, directing them to conduct a speedy enquiry into the incident and to expedite compensation to the families of the injured and deceased.

“How did the facility get license in the first place? It had no ambulance, no firefighting system! And how could it be running without license for the last two months?” Shunty remarked.

He demanded immediate shutdown of all the other branches of the said facility – and at least Rs 5 lakh compensation for the parents of the deceased infants.

On 29 May, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena suspended Dr RN Das, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Bharadwaj with immediate effect. Although, it is not known if this move was connected to the hospital fire.