Fire at Indian hospital NICU forces evacuation of nine newborns

A fire broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Asian Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Tuesday morning, triggered by a short circuit in an air-conditioning system. The blaze erupted in the early hours, prompting immediate evacuation procedures across the affected ward. Hospital authorities confirmed that nine newborns admitted to the NICU were safely removed from the ward, along with 57 other patients across the facility. Medical staff coordinated the evacuation while firefighting and police teams arrived at the scene to contain the fire. The rapid response from hospital personnel, fire department officials, and law enforcement prevented the situation from escalating into a major disaster. No injuries or fatalities were reported, and all patients were accounted for following the evacuation. The hospital has launched an investigation into the cause of the electrical malfunction that led to the fire, with preliminary findings pointing to a fault in the NICU's cooling system.