Delhi: Infants died of heat burns in Vivek Vihar fire, finds autopsy

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surendra Chaudhary confirmed that the report was received on May 31

The first postmortem report of the six newborns killed in the massive fire that broke out in a neonatal hospital in Vivek Vihar, east Delhi, has cited their cause of death as “shock as a result of antemortem flame burns,” according to police officers aware of the matter. However, the viscera report is awaited for the final conclusions, the officers added.

Delhi Police team at the site of the fire in Vivek Vihar on May 27. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surendra Chaudhary confirmed that the report was received on May 31. The report of the seventh baby who died on May 31 — five days after the blaze — is awaited, the officer said.

“In the primary stage, the cause of death is suspected to be ‘shock as a result of flame burns on the body’. However, in this case, the blood may have been preserved to find out the carboxyhemoglobin in the blood, which may change the cause of death to ‘suffocation’,” said Dr BN Misra, head of forensic medicine at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.

Dr Mishra added that if the body had sustained burns, then the cause of death could be shock – either neurogenic or hypovolemic – but if the body had no burns, there is a chance the cause of death was asphyxia caused by smoke or irrespirable gases.

A senior police officer part of the probe said that none of the sixinfants had burns because they did not come in direct contact with the fire. However, the temperature of the room was very high during the time of the incident and since newborns have extremely fragile skin, it may have led to superficial burns. An eight baby had died before the incident and his body had been kept in the hospital to be handed over to the family later.

“This is not the final report. Viscera of the newborns was preserved for carbon element in the blood and has been sent for forensic examination which will ascertain more details,” the officer added.

During the probe, police found several lapses including employing ayurvedic practitioners instead of doctors to cut costs, the absence of fire extinguishers for emergencies, and the lack of emergency exits, among other things, at Baby Care New Born Hospital.

Police said the hospital had a license from the health department which expired on March 31. However, the license was only for five beds but 13 were found in the hospital. Police also found over 32 oxygen cylinders while the permissible limit is only between 15-20.

Two people, the owner Dr Naveen Khichi and an ayurveda practitioner Dr Akash, were arrested by police after the fire.