The state is awaiting “the professional study from SENELEC (National Electricity Company of Senegal, ed)” to determine the cause of the fire that killed 11 newborns late Wednesday, according to Senegal’s health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, who has since been fired.
President Macky Sall of Senegal sacked the health minister on Thursday and declared three days of national mourning for the newborns’ deaths.
Authorities in Senegal’s western city of Tivaouane claimed 11 newborn babies died in a hospital fire caused by an electrical short circuit.
President Macky Sall revealed the tragedy on Twitter and ordered three days of national mourning, the latest in a spate of hospital deaths that have exposed the country’s healthcare system’s flaws.
Sall stated after the incident late Wednesday, “I have just learned with grief and dismay of the loss of 11 newborn babies in the fire at the neonatal department of the public hospital.”
He tweeted, “To their moms and families, I extend my greatest sympathies.”
Macky would return from his trip early and pay a visit to the hospital on Saturday, according to his office.
“Where is Mohamed?” a concerned mother inquired outside Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivaouane, a city of 40,000 people.
Mohamed’s 54-year-old father Alioune Diouf said his baby son was transported to the hospital 10 days ago and baptized on Monday.
Demba Diop, the mayor of the city, said the fire was started by a short circuit and spread swiftly.
He rejected claims made by family at the hospital and on social media that the babies were left alone, claiming that a midwife and nurse were present on Wednesday evening.
He claimed outside the hospital door, “There was a boom and an explosion that lasted three minutes at most.”
“The fire department arrived five minutes later. People used fire extinguishers to put out the fire.”
The air conditioning, according to the mayor, increased the flames, and the two nurses fainted but were revived.
Diop asserted, “There was no carelessness.”
In media reports, Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr reportedly blamed an electrical issue.
– ‘I’m more than heartbroken’ –
The maternity unit was designed to care for 13 newborns.
“At the time of the fire, there were 11 people,” the minister stated, adding that nurses were unable to save them.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said he was “beyond devastated” by the news.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the parents and families of the babies who perished.”
An investigation is underway, according to Health Minister Sarr, who was in Geneva for a meeting with the WHO.
The catastrophe in Tivaouane follows several other public health events in Senegal, which has a significant imbalance in healthcare facilities between urban and rural areas.
In late April, a fire broke out at a hospital in the northern town of Linguere, killing four newborn babies. An electrical malfunction in an air conditioning unit in the maternity ward, according to the mayor of the town.
– ‘This is inexcusable.’-
The disaster happened a little more than a month after the nation grieved the loss of a pregnant woman who had waited for a caesarean section in vain.
Astou Sokhna, a woman in pain, arrived to a hospital in the northern city of Louga. The personnel declined to comply with her request for a C-section, claiming that one was not scheduled.
She died 20 hours after arriving on April 1st.
Sokhna’s death sparked a nationwide outcry against the country’s failing health care system. Two weeks later, Sarr admitted that the death may have been avoided.
On May 11, the High Court of Louga sentenced three midwives on duty the night Sokhna died to a six-month suspended prison sentence for “failure to aid a person in danger” in connection with her case.
After the “atrocious” deaths of the four babies in Linguere, Amnesty International’s Senegal director Seydi Gassama said his organization had asked for an investigation and enhancement of neonatal services in hospitals across Senegal.
As a result of the new tragedy, Amnesty International “urges the government to establish an independent commission of inquiry to assess blame and prosecute the perpetrators, regardless of their position within the state machinery.”
