D. Naresh, whose daily work involves processing people’s complaints, morosely jotted down a complaint of his own at the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) mortuary, detailing his four-month-old son’s death. The police constable and his wife Manasa were yet to decide on a name for him; they simply called him Vicky.
Vicky had been admitted to Shine Children’s Hospital, L.B. Nagar on October 17 for a lung infection.
On Monday, when the infant’s parents learnt about a minor fire at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on October 19, Mr. Naresh had cautioned the hospital MD Sunil Kumar Reddy, said Hayatnagar police.
“My son was on the other end of the NICU when the minor fire occurred. I pointed out the carelessness and asked the doctors to take precautions. But today, my son was sleeping where the fire broke out. He had suffered burns by the time he my wife and her brother Naveen could rescue him,” said Mr Naresh, who is posted at Motakondur police station, after writing the complaint.
Police said the newborn’s bed caught fire. Vicky was declared dead at another private hospital and a post-mortem exam performed at OGH. The couple has a three-year-old daughter.
Mr Naresh demanded that the hospital be seized to prevent such tragic incidents in future. Based on his complaint, Hayatnagar police registered cases under IPC Section 304 (A).
Among the newborns and infants who survived was a 12-day-old baby girl who was the last one to be rescued from the NICU. M. Nagaraju and M. Suguna, hailing from Chityal mandal in Warangal district, had admitted their daughter to the hospital on October 20 for pneumonia treatment.
Mr Nagaraju, a farmer, was sleeping on the floor when he was awakened by the sound of breaking glass. “I got to know about the fire and ran to the NICU. But the staff did not allow me as there was a big fire and smoke. I told them I had to save my daughter and ran in. I could not seen anything due to the smoke and used my phone torch light to find my baby who was covered with soot. Luckily, she did not suffer any burns,” Mr Nagaraju said, adding that a doctor helped him rescue the baby.
The newborn was shifted to a private hospital for treatment where she is recovering.
