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Delhi hospital fire: Baby care centre owner, doctor on duty during blaze, sent to police custody
Delhi court remands Dr. Navin Khichi and Dr. Aakash, accused in the fire incident that occurred at Baby Care, to police custody till May 30
A Delhi court on Monday sent Dr Navin Khichi, the owner of Baby Care New Born Child Hospital, which caught fire leading to the deaths of seven newborns, to police custody till May 30.
Another accused, Dr. Akash, who was on duty at the time of the fire in the private neonatal hospital late on Saturday, has also been sent to police custody.
Both Khichi and Akash were arrested on Sunday by the Delhi Police. As per the report submitted to the Delhi divisional commissioner, there were 12 babies in the hospital at the time of the incident.
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The deceased children included four boys and three girls. All were 15 days old except one boy aged 25 days.
The initial cause of the fire is stated to be a short circuit but a probe is on, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.
The Delhi government has already ordered a magisterial probe into the fire tragedy. In an order, Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar directed the district magistrate of Shahdara to inquire into the incident.
According to a preliminary probe conducted by the Delhi Fire Services, there were several glaring lapses including illegal expansion of beds inside the hospital, lack of adequate fire exits and an improper use of oxygen cylinders.
Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that the city government will direct all the private and state-run hospitals to complete their fire audits by June 8 and submit a compliance report.
"On April 24, we had issued directions to all hospitals for fire preparedness. On May 8, we had asked them to conduct a fire audit. We will ask all private and Delhi government-run hospitals to complete a fire audit by June 8 and submit a compliance report to the Health department," the minister was quoted by PTI as saying.
Bharadwaj also said two nurses and some locals rescued the babies without worrying about their lives. "We will recommend their names for bravery awards," he added.
The Revenue department will be asked to expedite the process of compensation to the families of the babies killed and injured in the fire, he added.
