Three newborns die in Amravati NICU fire; probe ordered

Three newborn infants died and six others were hospitalized after a fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a government hospital in Amravati, Maharashtra, early Monday, August 24, 2026. The blaze at the District Women's Hospital prompted the evacuation of 36 other infants, with officials ordering a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.

The fire began at approximately 3:15 a.m. in the unit's ventilator system on the third floor of the hospital's new building. Maharashtra Revenue Minister and Amravati Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule confirmed that the ventilator in the outborn babies' compartment caught fire. The NICU is divided into three sections with a combined capacity for 39 infants, housing premature, low-weight, and critically ill newborns.

Hospital staff, including doctors and nurses on duty, detected the fire and immediately launched an evacuation operation. They managed to rescue the majority of the infants from the ward. Three newborns in the compartment where the fire originated died, while the remaining children were moved to safety.

Six infants were transferred to a local superspecialty hospital for further treatment. One of those...