(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-13 16:20

NEW DELHI -- Two newborn babies died due to electric short-circuit in incubators in two Indian hospitals Wednesday midnight, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Thursday.

The two prematurely born babies were killed after electrical warming gadgets in which they had been kept burst into flames in government hospitals in capital Delhi and western city Ahmedabad, the report said. In both cases, electrical short circuits were probably to blame.

The Delhi accident happened at Bhagwan Mahawir Hospital at midnight. The five-day-old dead baby's mother Kamlesh alleged hospital staff had prevented her from rushing to the burning machine.

She and her husband have filed a complaint to the police, accusing the hospital administration of negligence. Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri has asked the hospital for a report on the incident within 36 hours.

The Ahmedabad tragedy also happened at night. An incubator containing a three-day-old infant caught fire at the municipal Shardaben Hospital.

Three other incubators in the same room also caught fire, but hospital staff removed the babies in them before they were seriously hurt, the report said.

Hospital sources said that the incubator was more than a decade old but was functioning normally.

Ahmedabad's government has announced a compensation of 50,000 rupees (US$1,250) for the couple and also ordered inquiry into the fire.