Hyderabad: The death toll in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Adilabad, fire rose to five on Wednesday after two more premature infants died while undergoing treatment. Following Monday’s late night blaze that broke out at the special newborn care unit (SNCU) of RIMS, the two babies — both girls and aged one day and 10 days — were critical. While one was on a ventilator at RIMS, the other was on oxygen support at a govt hospital in Nirmal, about 75km from Adilabad. She was shifted there after initially receiving treatment at a private hospital. Hospital sources said both babies died late on Tuesday night. The preliminary cause of death is suspected to be smoke inhalation, with thick smoke and toxic fumes causing severe breathing difficulty and asphyxia. “Both the infants were extremely premature — one was born at 28 weeks and weighed 1.25kg, while the other was born at 25 weeks and weighed 1.56 kg – and had RDS (breathing difficulties). The infant on ventilator support also had apnea of prematurity (pauses in breathing due to immature lungs or immature brain control) and sepsis (a serious bloodstream infection),” said district medical and health officer (DM&HO) Dr P Sadhana.The infants belonged to tribal communities, with their families living in Indervelli mandal in Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.According to hospital sources, the 22 other infants rescued from the fire, suspected to have started due to a short circuit in a window air-conditioning unit, are also undergoing treatment and are under continuous monitoring at nearby private facilities. “Their condition is stable so far with oxygen support being provided to those who required it. We are continuously checking their vitals,” said Dr Sadhana.Three infants admitted to the SNCU had died earlier following the fire, which broke out around 11.40pm on Monday when 27 newborns and their attendants were present in the unit. Officials suspected that the ward quickly filled with smoke after plastic components of the AC caught fire. The exact cause of the fire, however, is yet to be established.“There was thick smoke inside the SNCU, with the closed glass door allowing little ventilation. Two to three infants were on a single bed, and some suffered burns. The unit soon became dark as the power and oxygen supply were disrupted, while two other ACs also caught fire,” said a health official.Govt announces compensationThe Telangana govt, on Wednesday, announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the affected families. Announcing the compensation, health minister Damodar Rajanarsimha reviewed the condition of the children undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Adilabad. He directed officials to shift any child requiring advanced care to bigger hospitals in Hyderabad.Chief minister A Revanth Reddy also formed a committee to conduct an inquiry into the fire and announced electrical, fire and structural safety audits at RIMS.Doc bodies highlight gapsMeanwhile, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) and Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGGDA) raised concerns over the financial condition of government hospitals. They claimed that more than Rs 500 crore in Aarogyasri funds had been pending for government hospitals for the past two-and-a-half years. The doctors said the shortage of funds was affecting the maintenance and servicing of medical equipment, biomedical systems and electrical infrastructure, besides making fire-safety compliance difficult.“We demand immediate release of the pending funds, particularly for high-risk areas such as SNCUs, NICUs, ICUs and operation theatres,” said Dr B Narahari, president, TGGDA.The organisations also demanded immediate safety audits of hospitals across the state, urgent repairs, timely release of funds, faster construction of healthcare facilities, better protection for healthcare workers and stronger public healthcare infrastructure.
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