In yet another glaring case of medical negligence, CCTV footage from a Gwalior district hospital shows how a fire at a sick newborn care unit (SNCU) lay unattended for a long time. A nurse who showed up at the right moment and averted what could have been a colossal disaster. The video is now doing rounds on the social media and would send chills down anybody’s spine.

The incident took place at 2: 20 am at the SNCU ward on Tuesday, May 29th at a government hospital in Gwalior. The chilling video shows an infant laying atop a phototherapy machine. A short circuit takes place warmer right under the machine, which breaks into a flame. Without a single attendant inside the ward, the fire starts growing steadily for more than a minute. The flames of the fire would have touched the baby if not for the intervention of the nurse.

In the nick of time, the nurse walks into the ward and on spotting the fire, she disconnected the power source of the warmer. She then leaves the room to put shut down power, after which the cameras blanked out. There were 23 infants in the ward. Had no one spotted the fire for the next five minutes, the outcome would have been catastrophic. Watch the video here.

Although the tragedy was averted, it highlights the hospital’s negligence since the ward comprising of infants lay unattended when the fire broke out. Even in the past, such instances of negligence had come at the cost of newborns’ lives. In March this year, a major fire engulfed the MY Hospital in Indore, claiming one life, although 43 other babies were saved. The Gorakhpur tragedy where 61 children died in 72 hours due to a lack of oxygen shortage was one of the worst of its kinds.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 30, 2018 12:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).