Parents rush out with their children from PMCH after a gas leakage on Friday. (PTI)

Patna, July 19: Children at the paediatric ward of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) had reason to smile on Friday, two days after gloom. Reason? A gift of new clothes.

Resting in one of the beds at PMCH’s paediatric ward, six-year-old Prince Kumar, was not really smiling, but had an air of optimism about him.

There was a spark in his eyes as he looked at the brand new sky blue T-shirt and shorts lying in one corner of the bed. “They are mine,” he says authoritatively. Some time later he says, “I am feeling okay. My legs still ache, though. My grandmother wanted me to wear the new dress today, but I said no. I will wear them the day I go back home,” Prince told The Telegraph.

Ask about about Tuesday and he goes mum. He does not want to hear or talk about his ordeal that began an hour after he consumed midday meal at Gandaman primary school in Chhapra on July 16.

His grandmother Girja Devi is worried. “I don’t know who gave these clothes. But it has cheered him (Prince) up a lot. He is asking time and again when we’ll go home. But he is weak still,” Girja said.

All the 24 children recuperating at PMCH smiled for the first time thanks to the new clothes. “When they came to the hospital, their condition was horrific. They were either unconscious or writhing in pain. It is good to see some of them smile a bit now,” an attending nurse said.

Khushi (7) too had a faint smile. “I want to study but not in that school. I’ll wear one of the new dresses to a new school. I don’t want to be in here. My grandfather is not letting me wear the dress saying I can wear it later,” she said.

A senior nurse at the ward, Nirmala, explains where the dresses came from. “When the children came here, they were in a critical condition. There were many children who had little or no clothes on. So, the hospital decided to gift them clothes. All 24 kids have been given a pair each,” she said.

PMCH superintendent Amar Kant Jha Amar said, “They were wearing the same old clothes and most of them had no clothes. So, some clothes have been bought. The hospital is trying to give them all possible comfort.”

One bed in the hospital, however, still bore the picture of grief. Manju Devi, one of the two cooks, was seen lying quietly, staring at the ceiling. “She has been very quiet. Since the past two days, people have bombarded her with questions. She won’t be talking for now. We have been directed not to let anyone talk to the patients,” a police constable said.

The quiet of the ward was broken around 11.30 am when thick smoke billowed from the ICU of the ward where three children from Gandaman primary school are still admitted.

Guardians began running out with their children. Normality was restored half an hour later, after senior police officers, including Patna SSP Manu Maharaj, rushed there. “People thought it was a fire. But it wasn’t so. One of the air conditioners in the ICU was getting re-filled with gas. Suddenly, a lot of gas got pumped out, leading to the smoke. There were no LPG cylinders nearby, contrary to what is being said,” the PMCH superintendent told The Telegraph.

Sources, however, said that an AC had developed a minor short circuit triggering a fire that was soon put out.