CCTV footage of the August 24 fire at the state-run hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati shows alarms sounding and red warning lights flashing before staff responded to the fire that killed three newborns, raising fresh questions over the hospital’s safety systems and emergency response.

Three premature newborns died in the fire in one room of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Amravati District Women’s Hospital, while 36 other infants were rescued and shifted to other hospitals.

The CCTV footage has raised questions about the sequence of events between the first warning signals, the outbreak of the fire, and the evacuation of the newborns.

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What CCTV footage shows

The footage, which has now emerged, shows two nurses sleeping in the lobby outside the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU). They appear to wake up after an explosion, with both seen covering their ears.

The nurses, along with other hospital staff, then rush toward the unit and try to douse the flames with fire extinguishers. The ward door also appears to be closed initially and is later opened by the nurses.

It shows the alarm sounding nearly three times, accompanied by flashing warning lights inside the ward, before the fire intensified.

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The incident is believed to have started at around 2.50 am. Preliminary reports attributed the fire to an explosion involving a ventilator manufactured by Schiller.

What the probe found

An inquiry conducted after the fire found several lapses in the hospital’s fire-safety preparedness. The fire alarm and sprinkler systems were found non-functional, and the fire pump house was reportedly locked when the fire broke out.

Five officials were suspended after the inquiry, and action was initiated against two companies over alleged lapses in fire-safety equipment.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also took note of the deaths and sought a report from the Maharashtra chief secretary.

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An 11-member committee constituted to investigate the Amravati hospital fire has submitted its report to the state government. However, the report has not yet been made public.