India

Published on Saturday 31 January 2009 18:49

Five newborns, all less than a week old, were killed and another was injured in northern India yesterday after a short-circuit sparked a fire in the hospital maternity ward where they were being treated for jaundice.

The blaze began before dawn at the state-run Rajendra hospital in the city of Patiala, apparently after a machine that is used to treat jaundiced babies by exposing them to a special light malfunctioned, said police officer Pritpal Singh.

Five other newborns were rescued, including one who suffered burns. All the babies were under a week old and receiving treatment under the phototherapy machine.

"There was a short-circuit in the tubes of the machines," hospital superintendent Surinder Singh said. "The staff reacted immediately, but unfortunately five babies could not be saved."