11 babies in neonatal care evacuated

Afire broke out on the terrace of a four-storey building in Parimal Garden area of the city on Monday, but no casualties or injuries were reported. Fire officials suspect gas leakage to be the cause of fire that engulfed the fibre-shed on the terrace of Dev Commercial Complex.

Apple Super-Specialty Children’s Hospital had constructed the shed on the terrace which housed its kitchenette, canteen named “flames” and waiting room for the staff. Gas leakage in the kitchenette is suspected to have started the fire. Following the incident, 11 babies admitted in the neonatal care unit of the Apple hospital were evacuated along with patients of two other hospitals and staff of other businesses in the building.

Six fire brigade vehicles were rushed to the spot after a call to the control room was made at about 1:02 pm on Monday afternoon. Residents of the building used extinguishers to douse flames but after being unable to do so, called the fire department. Of the 11 neonatal patients admitted to the Apple hospital, 10 were moved to Synergy hospital in Navrangpura while a sixmonth-old was moved to the hospital’s branch in Naroda, said officials of GVK-EMRI ambulance service. While five are new-born females, two are newborn males and one is a sixmonth-old baby boy.

A family whose newborn was brought from Apple Hospital to Synergy Hospital said the transfer of their child had been smooth and without any trouble. Dr Parimal Desai, an eye surgeon whose hospital is located just below Apple Hospital on the third floor of the four-storey building, said, “The owners of the Apple Hospital built the shed by claiming the terrace as their own. We never interfere in their business but all of us have enough fire safety on all floors of the building.”

Owners of Apple Hospital — Dr Parag Dagli, Abhishek Bansal and Dr Modi — were not available for comments.

Deputy CFO Rajesh Bhatt said, “The terrace has to be completely free from obstruction to enable rescue operation during emergencies. In this case, hazardous construction was made on the terrace, and added with kitchen, it posed a danger.”
Illegal construction
Officials of the AMC estate department said when the BU certificate was given to the building in 2005, no permission was granted for construction on the terrace. “Hence, the construction on the terrace of Dev Complex is illegal. We will be issuing a notice soon,” an estate department official told Mirror.