Shine Children’s Hospital at LB Nagar, where an infant was charred to death in a fire that broke out on Monday, was ‘overcrowded’ and had no fire exits, said the police.
During an investigation, the LB Nagar police found that the hospital building was illegal and inadequate for patients. The four-storey building had no fire exits and no fire escape warnings to the public on any of the floors.
After arresting hospital managing director V Sunil Kumar Reddy (40) and four others, inspector V Ashok Reddy said the former had no permission from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for the functioning of the hospital.
Citing video footage, the police said the fire broke out at 2.21 a.m. in the AC-controlled room on the fourth floor of the building, where the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was situated.
“The fire reportedly emanated from the refrigerator and the four-month-old victim was in the proximity of the refrigerator,” said Mr. Reddy.
Further, he said, duty doctor Hari Krishna failed to reach the NICU and rescue the victims when the fire broke out. “Duty nurse Sravanthi abandoned the NICU from 1.57 a.m., closed the door and went away, while Shanthi Deepika, a nurse in the Pediatric ICU (which is located next to NICU), did not bother to rescue the children,” said the inspector. The police also booked electrician Basheer.
“Due to negligence of the accused, lives of the 43 children undergoing treatment were in danger,” said the police.
