At least 11 newborn babies were killed in a fire at a hospital in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane, the country’s president said Wednesday, May 25.
Just before midnight, Senegal President Macky Sall announced that 11 newborns have died in the fire that engulfed the neonatal section of the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in the transport hub of the city.
"I have just learned with pain and consternation the death of 11 newborn babies in the fire that occurred in the neonatology department of the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital in Tivaouane," Sall said in a statement on Twitter.
The president offered his condolences to the heartbroken parents of the new babies.
"To their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy," he said.
According to Senegal’s health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, the fire was ignited by a short circuit.
"The fire spread very quickly," he said.
The mayor of Tivaouane, Demba Diop, said three babies were saved from the fire, France24 reported.
The hospital had been newly inaugurated, according to AFP, citing local media reports.
Health minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said the situation is "very unfortunate and extremely painful," adding that an investigation is underway to see what happened.
Opposition MP Mamadou Lamine Diallo posted a tweet criticizing the government: "More babies burned in a public hospital… This is unacceptable".
Country director Seydi Gassama said that the 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."
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. An electrical fault in the air conditioning unit of the maternity ward was said to be the cause of the fire.
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