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MURSHIDABAD: At least 10 newborn babies died at Murshidabad Medical College Hospital in West Bengal in a span of 24 hours.
All the babies, most of whom were already underweight, were shifted from the SNCU (Special Newborn Care Unit) at Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital to Murshidabad Medical College due to a lack of proper facilities, reported ANI.
Professor Amit Dan, Principal of Murshidabad Medical College Hospital, said that patients were shifted from Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital due to ongoing Public Works Department (PWD) work there.
“We have formed an inquiry committee. All the children who were brought here were already underweight and subsequently died. It was difficult to save them as it took 5-6 hours to transport them to this hospital. We are constituting a team to probe this…”
Officials mentioned that the sudden influx of patients put immense strain on the already overloaded medical college.
Das added that, based on a preliminary inquiry, most of the children were found to be malnourished and weighed between 300-500 grams. “One among them had a severe heart problem from birth. We do not have the facility to treat him here, and we did not have the time to transport him to a facility for treatment,” said Das.
A medical board of renowned doctors has been constituted to investigate the incident.
The state health department has also issued a statement assuring that necessary measures will be taken to prevent such tragedies from happening again.