42 kids in Shine hospital when fire broke out

Hyderabad: It was a heart-breaking Monday morning as parents and relatives of the 42 children; mostly babies ran helter-skelter as a fire raged through the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Shine Children’s hospital at LB Nagar in Hyderabad.

The smoke caused due to the fire inside the NICU department soon spread to the entire hospital, that is a ground +3 building.

Cries and screams filled the air as parents and relatives panicked since they did not know about the condition of their children. Parents allege, “There was no response from the hospital authorities or the staff. Except for the night duty nurses and supporting staff, there were no senior officials to monitor the situation at the hospital.”

While a five-month-old baby from Suryapet district died in the incident, at least five others who were being treated in the NICU received injuries due to the smoke and fire. Initially, the hospital did not have any facility to shift the injured children to other hospitals for treatment. At the odd hour, parents were forced to approach private vehicles and cabs for help.

As soon as the fire broke, the hospital staff blocked parents and relatives from entering the hospital, leaving them all the more worried about the safety of their children. A parent said, “We only knew that a fire had broken out and was clueless about what was happening inside. We were not allowed to reach our children. Nobody could even tell us what was happening and where our children were.”

Later, Children were rushed to other hospitals in Uppal, LB Nagar and Malakpet for treatment. Even by morning, many parents were seen running from hospital to hospital to know where their child was admitted after the incident.