Hyderabad: The death of five newborn babies in a fire that broke out inside the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), in Adilabad town, Telangana, has brought into sharp focus the state’s woefully inadequate government healthcare system. The fire broke out on Monday (September 21) around 11.40 pm in the government-run medical institute.The fire was reportedly sparked by an air-conditioner at the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) of the hospital, which burst into flames and engulfed the ward in thick smoke. A female infant, born three days earlier, is said to have died instantly. There were at least 24 babies on incubators in the ward and 27 attendants were asleep nearby or chatting outside it.A thundering noise from the air conditioner suddenly jolted them and the nursing staff. It was pell-mell for the next 15 minutes as everyone ran amuck with zero visibility inside the ward. The parents present blindly picked up their children from the allotted cots, said Saleem Khan of Ichoda, whose daughter was the first casualty.Adilabad District Medical and Health Officer Sadhana confirmed the cause of the fire was an air-conditioner in the SNCU reception area but did not respond to other queries sent by The Wire.The Hindu reports that the SNCU has “two flanks”, of 11 and 13 beds each. A mother care area opposite the SNCU has four beds. The sections are enclosed and have glass windows. When the fire broke out, smoke accumulated inside the unit. Attendants at the hospital broke the windows to evacuate babies, Sadhana told the publication.Apart from Saleem Khan and his wife Saba Khanam’s newborn daughter, 20 infants were admitted in the SNCU ward and three were in the mother care area, which was not affected in the fire. Nineteen were rescued and shifted to government and private hospitals nearby while four were taken home.Two female infants, and aged five and four days, died within hours after they were moved to other hospitals. Two other children succumbed to injuries during treatment.Also read: Telangana: Four Women Die After Undergoing Sterilisation Surgery at Govt HospitalDistrict Fire Officer, Makarandu, Bhagwan Reddy told The Wire that the cause of the accident was not yet established.Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha rushed to the hospital on Tuesday (September 22) has announced a six-member committee headed by the Project Officer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency at Utnoor Manda Makarandu to investigate. Reddy is part of the committee, which is mandated to examine electric wiring and fire safety measures at the hospital.Adilabad legislator and BJP leaders Payal Shankar told The Wire that he had brought the danger to the hospital from faulty wiring and leakages in overhead slabs to the notice of the government six months ago at a meeting convened by the health minister. Thereafter, Rs 5 crore was sanctioned by the minister and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who holds the finance portfolio, he said.Payal Shankar said the file was still pending with the finance secretary and expressed anguish that the hospital did not have electricians on its rolls. It depended on electricians on call but they did not respond to emergencies.Charred remains at the SNCU of the state-run RIMS which caught fire. in Adilabad, Telangana, September 22, 2026. Photo: PTI.The SNCU at RIMS mainly catered to preterm babies born at various hospitals in and around Adilabad town who require critical care. Pregnant tribal women from near and far visit the hospital for pre- and neo-natal care. These women often suffer from malnourishment and anaemic disorders, which has an impact on hospital admissions for their new-borns as well.Two of the children who died were born at 26 to 28 weeks of pregnancy, and weighed around 1 kg each, the DM & HO said. A third infant was born at 28 weeks and weighed 1.1 kg, said the Director of Medical Education, N. Vani.Except four who had ventilator support due to higher risk from birth related ailments, 23 others in the SNCU were being incubated.Saleem Khan, whose 3-day-old daughter died was on a ventilator at SNCU after she was born two months before full term at a private hospital. The baby was shifted to RIMS immediately after birth due to her very low weight.“Smoke had clouded my daughter’s face when she was brought out of the SNUC amid suffocating conditions,” he said in a state of shock.According to eyewitness accounts, the prompt evacuation of infants by RIMS staff and patients’ attendants helped prevent further casualties as thick smoke filled SNCU. The hospital staff and family members ran out with infants in their arms. Another witness said the air-conditioner was old and not properly maintained.Also read: Hyderabad: Prospect of Pulling Down Osmania General Hospital Has Heritage Activists Up in ArmsThe state secretary of Indian Medical Association V. Ashok said he was informed that repairs to the air-conditioner were pending for three months. He told The Wire that maintenance of equipment at government hospitals was neglected due to lack of funding.The Telangana Junior Doctors Association in a statement demanded a state-wide safety and infrastructure audit of all government healthcare institutions due to a series of recent mishaps at hospitals.He recalled a ward in MGM Hospital at Warangal which left three patients injured when the ageing plaster fell on them. Two such incidents occurred at the hospital’s Respiratory Intensive Care Unit and physiotherapy departments earlier this week.The association said the incidents exposed continuing deficiencies in infrastructure, maintenance, safety systems, funding, transportation and patient care facilities in government hospitals.Another dangerous smoke incident occurred at the paediatric ward in MGM Hospital in September 2018, though nobody was hurt. It was found then that wires in the ward were dangling dangerously. A fire accident at Niloufer government children’s hospital in 2024, again due to short-circuit at a biochemistry lab, resulted in smoke entering a nearby ward. A fire accident also took place at an operation theatre in state-owned Gandhi Hospital in 2021.The Telangana State Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the deaths at RIMS and sought a detailed report from the government. The state government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the parents of the five infants killed.The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and former MP K. Kavitha-led Telangana Rakshana Sena have announced assistance of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively, to the families of the deceased.