Eleven newborns went missing on Wednesday when a fire broke out at a hospital in Tivuan, in western Senegal, about 120 kilometers from the capital Dakar, said the president of the African country Maki Sal.
“I was just shocked to learn of the deaths of 11 newborns in the fire that broke out in the neonatology department of a (public) hospital in Tivuan,” Mr Sal said on Twitter, without elaborating on the circumstances leading up to the tragedy.
“I express my deepest sympathy to their mothers and their families,” he added.
“Three babies have been rescued,” said Tivuan Mayor Deba Diop.
The fire was caused “by a short circuit and spread very quickly”, added Diop, who is also a Member of Parliament and also known as Diop Si.
The city’s public hospital was recently inaugurated, according to local media.
In early April, another tragedy at a different public hospital caused a stir in Senegal.
In Luga (north), a pregnant woman died after waiting in vain, for hours, in acute pain, to undergo a caesarean section. Her death sparked outrage among Senegalese users of social networking sites as she tragically highlighted the shortcomings of the public health system.
In this case, three midwives were sentenced to six months suspended imprisonment on May 11 for “failing to provide assistance to a person at risk” by a court in Luga. Three others were acquitted.
Four newborns went missing on April 25, 2021 in a fire in the city of Linzer (north). Authorities reported an air conditioning unit malfunctioning at the maternity clinic where six babies were being held.
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