Arthur Greene
The president of Senegal has called for three national days of mourning after 11 newborn babies perished in a fire in a hospital in the city of Tivaouane on Wednesday.
President Macky Sall said on Thursday that only three infants could be saved as the fire engulfed the neonatal unit at the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital.
“According to preliminary investigation, a short circuit triggered the fire,” said Senegal’s health and welfare minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr.
Speaking on radio, the minister said that an investigation into the tragic event is underway.
It later emerged in Senegalese media that authorities would be launching an investigation into the condition of the hospital’s facilities.
One eyewitness of the fire described the conditions in the hospital before the fire started as “atrocious”.
“It was hot and smoky inside with a suffocating heat, and there was a power outage,” said Mamadou Mbaye, as quoted by the Independent.
Despite having some of the best hospitals of any country in West Africa, Senegal has a notable problem with infant deaths.
Last year, four newborn babies died in another hospital fire in the town of Linguere.
Earlier this month, a newborn was declared dead and taken to a morgue before a medical aide discovered that the baby was in fact alive. The infant later died.
