Chhindwara NICU Warmer Catches Fire: 3 Newborns Severely Burned, 30 Others Evacuated
A short circuit in a NICU warmer sparked the blaze, and 30 other infants were evacuated as officials ordered a probe.
- On Saturday, August 22, 2026, a fire broke out in the Chhindwara district hospital NICU when a radiant warmer machine caught fire, killing one newborn and injuring two others with serious burns.
- Sparks from the warmer's filament coil ignited oxygen tubing near the cradle, triggering the blaze. Civil Surgeon Kanchan Dubey claimed the machine underwent annual maintenance on August 10 with no faults detected.
- The hospital had only 27 warmer machines for 63 total infants, forcing multiple children into single cradles. Staff safely evacuated 30 of the 33 babies in the NICU using fire extinguishers.
- Chhindwara Collector Harendra Narayan Mishra ordered an investigation into the incident. Opposition Leader Umang Singhar criticized the BJP government and demanded an immediate fire safety audit of all state hospitals.
- The tragedy reflects ongoing public health infrastructure concerns in Chhindwara, including a 2025 cough syrup poisoning that killed 25 children. A November 2024 fire at the State-run Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Hospital in Jhansi killed at least 17 infants.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Newborn dies, 3 suffer burns after hospital cradle warmer catches fire
A warmer in the Special Newborn Care Unit at Chhindwara District Hospital caught fire, injuring three newborns. One baby later died during treatment in Jabalpur as the administration ordered an investigation.
Infant dead, two injured in fire at NICU in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara
A radiant warmer machine in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit caught fire due to sparks in its filament coil, causing injuries to three children; the three newborns were referred to the government medical college in Jabalpur where one of them died; the other two are stable, says District Collector
El Periódico
One newborn baby died and two others suffered burns after a fire broke out on Saturday morning in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Chhindwara district, in the Indian central state of Madhya Pradesh.Continue reading...
A spark from the warmer machine in the NICU of Chhindwara district hospital caught fire, in which one newborn died, two were burnt and the injured children were referred to Jabalpur for better treatment.
MP shocker: Newborn dies, 2 suffer burns after warmer machine catches fire
A newborn died and two others were injured after a warmer machine caught fire in Chhindwara's NICU. The incident occurred early Saturday morning due to sparks from the machine's filament. Hospital staff quickly extinguished the blaze using firefighting equipment. The injured babies were transferred to Jabalpur for advanced medical care. An inquiry has been initiated to determine the exact cause of the fire.
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