Indian police announced, Monday, May 27, 2024, the arrest of a doctor and the owner of an unlicensed children's hospital, following a fire that caused the death of six babies, in New Delhi, hours after a fire at an amusement park in the western part of the country.

“We made an arrest”stated toFrench Media Agency (AFP) police officer Surendra Chaudhary, two days after the disaster that occurred at the Newborn Care hospital, in Vivek Vihar district, New Delhi.

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Double the official number of beds

According to Surendra Chaudhary, the hospital “does not have an evacuation system in case of fire”. Its approval expired in March and the owners have managed more than twice the number of beds allowed in the department.

Dozens of newborn babies were successfully evacuated from the hospital when the disaster occurred, but six of them died while being treated by doctors. Five babies rescued from the fire are still recovering in other hospitals.

Vinod Sharma lost his son, just a day old, in the fire and blamed the hospital authorities. “He was having breathing problems. The doctor said he would be better in a few days, he said, quoted by the daily Indian Express. We didn't think the hospital would kill him. »

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“Responsible people will not escape”

It was passersby who first saw the fire and intervened, braving the flames, to save the newborn baby.

The fire, which was deployed by 14 fire trucks, spread “too fast due to oxygen tank explosion”city ​​fire director Atul Garg told the news agency Indian Trust Press (PTI).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the fires and deaths of newborns a “heartbreaking”in a message published on X (formerly Twitter).

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has warned against this “the person responsible for this negligence will not escape”. “We all stand in solidarity with those who lost their innocent children in this accident”he added on the social network.