11 newborn babies die in Senegal hospital fire

Eleven newborn babies have died in a hospital fire in the western city of Tivaouane in Senegal, the country’s president has said.

The fire at Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital was in the maternity department, President Macky Sall tweeted.

Initial reports suggest the fire was caused by a short circuit, according to Senegalese politicians.

Three babies were saved from the fire, said the city’s mayor, Demba Diop Sy.

The fire spread very quickly and emergency services were still at the scene, Mr Sy told local media.

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

“To their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy,” President Sall wrote in a tweet.

“This situation is very unfortunate and extremely painful,” Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said from Geneva, where he was attending a World Health Organization meeting.

He said an investigation was underway and he would be cutting his trip short to return to Senegal immediately.

The incident has sparked a wave of indignation on social media over the state of the country’s healthcare provision.

Opposition MP Mamadou Lamine Diallo criticised the government, tweeting: “More babies burned in a public hospital… This is unacceptable”.

Rights group Amnesty International has urged the government to create an “independent commission of inquiry to determine responsibility and punish the culprits, no matter the level they are at in the state apparatus,” country director Seydi Gassama said in a tweet.

Amnesty called for all of Senegal’s neo-natal wards to be inspected after a similar incident occurred in the northern town of Linguère last year.

Four newborn babies were killed there after a fire broke out at a hospital’s maternity ward. At the time, the mayor said there was an electrical fault in the air conditioning unit of the maternity ward.

Wednesday’s tragedy also follows a national outcry over the death of a woman in labour, Astou Sokhna, who died while reportedly begging for a Caesarean during her 20-hour labour ordeal. Her unborn child also died.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

11 newborn babies die in Senegal hospital fire

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…

[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo

11 newborn babies die in Senegal hospital fire