Television footage showed firefighters attempting to douse the fire which broke out late Saturday night and engulfed the hospital in the eastern part of the city.

The fire department told news agency ANI, in which Reuters owns a minority stake, that six more children were rescued and taken to a different hospital, with one on a ventilator. The fire has since been brought under control.

The owner of the baby hospital has fled, Delhi police said.

“The causes of the incident are being investigated and whoever is responsible for this negligence will not be spared,” Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on social media platform X.

The fire occurred a day after 27 people were killed in a fire at an entertainment centre in the western state of Gujarat. Local media have reported that two people have been detained in connection with that incident.