INTERNATIONAL

Eleven newborn babies burn to death in hospital fire

Eleven newborn babies have died in a fire at the maternity unit of a hospital in the western city of Tivaouane in Senegal. Three others were rescued from the inferno.

The BBC reported that the fire was caused by a short circuit, according to the city’s mayor, Demba Diop Sy.

Senegal’s Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr has since been fired.

The tragedy has set off a wave of grief and outrage throughout Senegal over the state of disrepair at some of the country’s health-care facilities.

Families rushed to the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital to find out if their babies had survived. Some could be seen sitting outside in tears with their heads in their hands, overcome with the news that their babies were among the dead.

“We are devastated,” one young man, who only gave his name as Abdou, told the BBC.

“My sister-in-law gave birth last month but then she died. The baby was born seven months into the pregnancy, so he had to be treated and he is now one of the victims of this fire,” he said.

Moustapha Cissé told Reuters news agency that his three-week-old nephew, Mohamed, was among the dead.

His mother Ramata Gueye also died after childbirth. She and her husband, El Hadj Gueye, had been trying for a baby for seven years and Mohamed was their only child.

“It is heart-breaking to see him lose his wife and now his child,” said Mr Cissé. “I can’t even look him in the eyes.”

“Is it God’s plan or is it just that Senegal’s hospitals are failing? We need to put this question to the government,” he added.

The hospital had been newly inaugurated, according to AFP, citing local media reports.

President Macky Sall has declared three days of national mourning. “To their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy,” he tweeted.

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