Three newborns died after a fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Maharashtra’s Amravati District Women’s Hospital early Monday morning. The incident occurred at around 3:30 am when 39 babies were undergoing treatment in the child care unit.

Preliminary information suggests that the blaze may have started following an explosion involving equipment inside the NICU on the hospital’s third floor. The fire quickly filled the unit with smoke, creating a critical situation for the newborns and hospital staff.

Doctors, nurses and other personnel present at the hospital immediately began evacuating the babies. Several newborns were moved to safety, while six children were shifted to a super-speciality hospital for further treatment.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established. Initial reports have pointed to a possible blast involving a ventilator, while damaged equipment at the site has also led to questions about the electrical and medical systems operating inside the NICU. Authorities are expected to examine the equipment and other circumstances surrounding the incident as part of the investigation.

The fire caused significant damage inside the child care unit. Medical equipment and other items in the NICU were affected by the flames and smoke, with several objects found blackened after the fire was brought under control.

The incident has again raised concerns over fire safety and emergency preparedness in neonatal units, where even a short delay in evacuation can put critically ill babies at serious risk. Newborns in NICUs often depend on ventilators, warmers and other life-support equipment, making the safe functioning of electrical and medical systems particularly important.

The Amravati incident comes amid another NICU fire-related tragedy reported in Madhya Pradesh. Two days earlier, a fire broke out at the NICU of Chhindwara District Hospital at around 2 am after a spark was reportedly noticed from the filament of a warmer machine.

Three newborns suffered burn injuries in that incident and were initially given first aid before being referred to Jabalpur for further treatment. One baby, who was reportedly born only a few hours before the fire, later died during treatment. The hospital administration subsequently began an inquiry into the incident.

Several hospital fires have also been reported in different parts of the country this year. In June, a fire at the ICU of Prasad Hospital in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, resulted in multiple deaths, with reports varying on the final toll. In March, 10 patients died in a fire at the trauma ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, while 11 staff members were injured.

In Maharashtra, an electrical sparking incident at Daga Memorial Government Women’s Hospital in Nagpur in May triggered smoke and a fire-like emergency in the Special Newborn Care Unit. Ten newborns were evacuated safely and six were shifted to another NICU. No deaths were reported in that incident.

The Amravati hospital administration and authorities are now expected to establish how the fire started, whether safety systems functioned properly and whether any lapses contributed to the deaths. Further details are awaited as the investigation continues.