Three premature newborns died after fire broke out in one room of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the government-run Amravati District Women’s Hospital around 3.30 am on Monday.

According to preliminary information, the fire was caused by a technical fault in a thermal unit in the NICU. Nine infants were present in the affected room at the time. Hospital staff and attendants managed to evacuate all nine babies, of whom three died.

The infants were premature and were undergoing treatment, including for jaundice, officials said.

#WATCH | Amravati, Maharashtra: Three newborn babies lost their lives after a fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Women’s Hospital. According to preliminary information, the fire erupted at around 3.30 am on the third floor of the hospital,… pic.twitter.com/fhSQvykujw

— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2026

Amravati Deputy Commissioner of Police Shyam Ghuge said the fire was confined to one room of the NICU and was extinguished within around 30 minutes. “There was a technical fault in the thermal unit, following which the fire broke out. The attendants immediately took out the nine babies from the room, of whom three died,” he said.

Ghuge said further investigation would be conducted to establish the exact cause of the fire.


“We will conduct a further investigation to ascertain why the fire broke out and whether all the required fire-safety norms were being followed at the government hospital. The technical equipment involved in the incident, as well as the fire-safety arrangements at the hospital, are likely to be examined as part of the probe.”