11 infants killed in hearth at neonatal unit in Senegalese Hospital

Police have been on guard and close by residents and fogeys stood mourning outdoors a hospital in Senegal the place a fireplace within the neonatal unit killed 11 newborns. Only three infants may very well be saved, President Macky Sall mentioned earlier than calling on Thursday for 3 days of mourning for the younger lives misplaced.

Mamadou Mbaye, who witnessed the fireplace Wednesday on the Abdoul Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivaouane, a city 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of the capital, Dakar, instructed The Associated Press that situations contained in the hospital have been “atrocious.”

“It was hot and smoky inside with a suffocating heat, and there was a power outage,” Mbaye mentioned.

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Grieving dad and mom have been nonetheless in shock.

“I baptized my child on Wednesday and he was baptized here in the hospital. To my great shock, I got a call to tell me that the neonatal section had been destroyed by a fire,” mentioned Badara Faye, who misplaced his son.

Moustapha Cisse, who additionally misplaced a new child, mentioned they’re nonetheless awaiting solutions on how such a tragic hearth might take the lives of their youngsters.

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The hearth was blamed on {an electrical} brief circuit, in line with Mayor Demba Diop.

Interior Minister Antoine Diome introduced that authorities could be opening an investigation into the situation of the hospital’s services in addition to different well being care facilities, Senegalese media reported.

President Sall referred to as for 3 days of mourning.

“To their mothers and families, I express my deepest sympathy,” Sall had tweeted upon listening to the information of the fireplace.

His chief of employees, minister Augustin Tine, visited the stays of the hospital Thursday.

“We have come to be close to the people, in particular the parents,” he mentioned. We have come to share the struggling, he added, “to share our condolences and to say again it is a misfortune that has hit our country, but we keep our faith.”

The lethal hearth comes a 12 months after 4 different newborns died in a hospital hearth in Linguere in northern Senegal.

A collection of different deaths even have raised considerations about maternal and toddler well being within the West African nation recognized for having among the finest hospitals within the area.

Earlier this month, authorities found a child that had been declared useless by a nurse’s aide was nonetheless alive in a morgue. The toddler later died.

Last 12 months a pregnant girl died in Louga, within the north of the nation, after ready in useless for a cesarean part. Three midwives got six-month suspended sentences for not giving assist to an individual at risk.

Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, who was attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, minimize brief his journey to return to Senegal.