Madhya Pradesh: Three newborns suffer burns after warmer machine catches fire at Chhindwara District Hospital NICU

Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 22 (ANI): Three newborns suffered burn injuries after a warmer machine caught fire at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Chhindwara District Hospital during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Given the critical condition of the three infants, they were immediately referred to Jabalpur Medical College for advanced treatment.
According to reports, a spark suddenly occurred in the filament of the warmer machine's heating unit within the NICU during the night. Within moments, the machine caught fire. Three newborns were inside the warmer at the time and sustained burns from the flames. Following the incident, hospital doctors and staff immediately removed the infants from the warmer and initiated treatment.
Observing the critical condition of the infants, the District Hospital administration immediately referred them to Jabalpur. They were transported to Jabalpur by ambulance under the supervision of two doctors to ensure they received necessary medical care during the journey.
District Hospital Civil Surgeon Kanchan Dubey, speaking to ANI, said, "On 22nd August, 2026, at around 1.50 pm, there is a children's intensive care unit, in which the children are kept in a warmer, or the serious children are admitted for treatment. So, in one of the children's warmers, due to a sudden spark in the filament, there was a fire in that warmer, due to which three children were injured due to burning. As soon as our staff saw them, they immediately removed all three children from there, extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher, and took out the whole burning trolley. There is an oxygen connection there, which could have been very dangerous; that was also closed."

She further stated, "There were 33 children in that place. 3 children were kept in a cradle, in a warmer; the remaining 30 children were safely taken out of there. After taking them out, the three children who were injured due to burning we took them to the medical college specialists. The medical superintendent, they also came immediately as soon as they got the news. They saw him, tested him, and then, for better treatment, they referred him to Medical College, Jabalpur." (ANI)