A father’s hope cut short as fire incident at RIMS claims newborn daughter in Telangana’s Adilabad

Salim Khan of Ichoda had hoped his five-day-old preterm daughter would recover and return home. The midnight fire at the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad on Monday (September 21, 2026) turned that hope into grief.

He had hoped to take her home after her recovery, even as his wife was recovering in the maternity ward following a Caesarean section.

Five-day-old Sabha Khanum was among three infants who died following the fire incident which reportedly began after an air-conditioner caught fire.

Sabha, who was on ventilator support at the SNUC, died in the incident. Two other infants succumbed later in the early hours of Tuesday (September 22, 2026) while undergoing treatment at hospitals in Adilabad and Nizamabad.

“Smoke had clouded my daughter’s face when she was brought out of the SNCU amid suffocating conditions,” said Salim Khan, visibly shaken by the loss. “We admitted her hoping she would recover soon and return home. But those hopes were shattered by the fire.”

Around 27 infants were reportedly present in the SNCU when the incident occurred. The prompt evacuation of the infants by RIMS staff and patients’ attendants helped prevent further causalities as thick smoke quickly filled the SNCU.

Despite poor visibility and suffocating conditions, they moved the infants out of the unit and shifted them to safety.  

“As soon as I noticed thick smoke coming from the SNCU, I rushed to rescue the infants,” said a patient’s attendant who was in the hospital corridor at the time.

“I, along with others, broke open the glass windows to allow the smoke to escape and then entered the SNCU, covering my face with T-shirt. Despite the thick smoke, I saw the hospital staff and family members carrying the infants out in their arms. They were later shifted to nearby children’s hospitals in ambulances,” he recalled.  

Another eyewitness, a woman who was at the hospital, said she heard a loud noise before rushing towards the SNCU. “I found the ward filled with dark smoke. I immediately brought my preterm granddaughter out before the smoke intensified,” she said, expressing anguish over the incident in a unit meant to provide critical care to premature and vulnerable newborns.

The prompt evacuation was crucial in preventing further loss of life, an eyewitness said. The remaining 24 infants were shifted to various children’s hospitals for continued treatment and were reported to be in stable condition, according to officials.