Senegal’s president calls for three days of mourning after 11 babies die in fire

The fire was blamed on an electrical short circuit

Kaba, a mother of a ten-day-old baby, reacts as she is comforted by relatives (Reuters)

President Macky Sall called for three days of mourning on Thursday after a fire engulfed the neo-natal unit of a hospital in Senegal, killing 11 newborn babies.

Only three infants could be saved, president Sall said.

Grieving parents, still visibly shocked stood outside the hospital mourning and were comforted by relatives.

Mamadou Mbaye, who witnessed the fire on Wednesday at the Abdoul Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivaouane – a town 75 miles northeast of the capital, Dakar – said conditions inside the hospital were “atrocious”.

“It was hot and smoky inside with a suffocating heat, and there was a power outage,” Mbaye said.

Public prosecutor Abdoulaye Ba delivers a press conference at the departmental court of Tivaouane (AFP via Getty Images)

“I baptised my child on Wednesday and he was baptised here in the hospital. To my great shock, I got a call to tell me that the neo-natal section had been destroyed by a fire,” said Badara Faye, who lost his son.

Moustapha Cisse, who also lost a newborn, said they are still awaiting answers on how such a tragic fire could take the lives of their children.

The fire was blamed on an electrical short circuit, according to mayor Demba Diop.

Interior Minister Antoine Diome announced that authorities would be opening an investigation into the condition of the hospital’s facilities as well as other health care centres, Senegalese media reported.

“To their mothers and families, I express my deepest sympathy,” Sall had tweeted upon hearing the news of the fire.

His chief of staff, minister Augustin Tine, visited the remains of the hospital on Thursday.

Charred windows at the Abdoul Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital in Tivaouane where 11 babies died (Reuters)

“We have come to be close to the people, in particular the parents,” he said. “We have come to share the suffering, he added, “to share our condolences and to say again it is a misfortune that has hit our country, but we keep our faith”.

The deadly fire comes a year after four newborns died in a hospital fire in Linguere in northern Senegal.

A series of other deaths also have raised concerns about maternal and infant health in the West African nation known for having some of the best hospitals in the region.

Earlier this month, authorities discovered a baby that had been declared dead by a nurse’s aide was still alive in a morgue. The infant later died.

Last year, a pregnant woman died in Louga, in the north of the country, after waiting in vain for a C-section. Three midwives were given six-month suspended sentences for not giving help to a person in danger.

Health minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, who was attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, cut short his trip to return to Senegal.

Additional reporting by agencies