Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh): Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed grief on the death of newborns in Maharani Laxmibai Medical College Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi and demanded strict legal action against guilty.
In a post on X, Kharge said that the news of the death of innocent children in the accident at the medical college in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh is extremely painful.
"Our deepest condolences to the families of all the children who died in this heart-breaking accident. May God give strength to their families to bear this sorrow. We demand from the government that the causes of this accident be investigated and strict legal action should be taken against whoever is guilty of such negligence," the Congress Chief said.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also condoled the death of newborns.
"Shocking news has come from Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi, where ten children have died due to a fire in the neonatal intensive care unit. Words of condolence and solace are futile in this time of great tragedy. We stand with the family and parents in this difficult situation," she posted on X.
10 newborns lost their lives in the fire, which is believed to have started due to a short circuit in an oxygen concentrator, and spread rapidly due to the highly oxygenated environment in the NICU.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced assistance of Rs five lakh each to parents of the newborns who died in the fire incident at Maharani Laxmibai Medical College Hospital, Jhansi.
The UP government has also announced Rs 50,000 each to the families of the injured from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
CM Yogi Adityanath has also directed the Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Jhansi to submit a report regarding the incident within 12 hours.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the state government and said that is a case of "negligence" of medical management.
Taking to his social media handle on X, Akhilesh Yadav posted, "The news of 10 children dying and many children getting injured due to fire in Jhansi Medical College is extremely sad and worrying. Heartfelt condolences to everyone."
"The cause of the fire is being said to be a fire in the 'oxygen concentrator'. This is a direct case of negligence of medical management and administration or of poor quality oxygen concentrator. Punitive action should be taken against all those responsible in this case. The Chief Minister should leave the election campaign and false claims of 'everything being fine' and focus on the poor condition of health and medical facilities.
—ANI