At least 15 babies die at Murshidabad Hosp in span of 72 hours

Kolkata: At least 15 newborn babies died at Murshidabad Medical College Hospital in Bengal in a span of 72 hours. A committee has been constituted by the hospital to probe the incident.

Most of these babies were underweight and were shifted to the medical college from the SNCU (Special Newborn Care Unit) at Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital.

Two babies were transferred from a private hospital in Jharkhand.

The two babies died late on Friday night. Hospital authorities claimed that most of these babies could have been saved if they were taken in time. As many as 9 babies died between Wednesday afternoon till Thursday afternoon.

Sources said that the medical college has an infrastructure of accommodating 54 babies in the sick neonatal care unit (SNCI) but more than 100 babies have been admitted.

Many of these babies were suffering from pneumonia and they were taken to the hospital late. A senior official of Murshidabad Medical College Hospital said that many patients were shifted from

Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital due to ongoing Public Works Department (PWD) work there.

All the children who were brought to the hospital

were underweight and subsequently died.

It was difficult to save them as it took 5-6 hours to transport them to this hospital. Based on a preliminary inquiry, most of these children were found to be malnourished and weighed between 300-500 grams.