5-day-old infant dies after AC blast triggers fire at Telangana hospital

An AC unit explosion sparked a fire in the NICU at RIMS Adilabad, killing a five-day-old infant during the evacuation. The remaining 23 babies were shifted to other hospitals as officials ordered an enquiry into the cause and any safety lapses.At the time of the incident, 24 babies were in the NICU of the Adilabad hospital.A five-day-old infant died after an air-conditioner unitexploded and triggered a fire in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Telangana's Adilabad.The incident took place around 11.40 pm on Monday, when the AC unit malfunctioned following an electrical short circuit, triggering a fire and filling the newborn ward with thick smoke.At the time, 24 babies were present in the ward, according to Adilabad District Collector Rajarshi Shah.Hospital staff, along with personnel from the Fire, Police and Medical and Health departments, immediately launched rescue operations and evacuated the children. Shah said the infant died during the shifting process, while the remaining 23 were moved to different hospitals for treatment and are being monitored by paediatricians.Three security personnel are also undergoing treatment. Firefighters rushed to the hospital and brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading to other parts of the facility.Shah said a detailed enquiry would be conducted to establish the exact cause of the fire and determine whether there were any safety lapses.“This is a very unfortunate incident. A detailed enquiry will be conducted to determine the exact cause of the fire and identify any lapses, if any,” he said, adding that the immediate priority was to ensure the safety and treatment of the children who had been shifted to different hospitals.This latest incident comes almost a month after three babies died due to a massive fire in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Women's Hospital in Amravati, Maharashtra.The fire erupted following an explosion in a ventilator.- EndsPublished By: Karishma Saurabh KalitaPublished On: Sep 22, 2026 08:16 IST