Well being minister says blaze in neonatology division of Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital in Tivaouane triggered by quick circuit, in keeping with preliminary investigation.
Eleven new child infants have died in a hospital fireplace within the Senegalese city of Tivaouane, in keeping with officers, with the tragedy sparking anger and requires accountability.
“I’ve simply discovered with ache and consternation the demise of 11 new child infants within the fireplace that occurred within the neonatology division of the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital in Tivaouane,” President Macky Sall mentioned in a tweet on Thursday, with out giving additional particulars in regards to the blaze.
“To their moms and their households, I categorical my deepest sympathy,” added Sall, who’s on a state go to to Angola.
Je viens d’apprendre avec douleur et consternation le décès de 11 nouveaux nés, dans l’incendie survenu au service de néonatalogie de l’hôpital Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh de Tivaouane.
A leurs mamans et et à leurs familles, j’exprime ma profonde compassion.— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) May 25, 2022
Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, Senegal’s well being minister, instructed native media {that a} quick circuit had triggered the fireplace, in keeping with a preliminary investigation.
“This case could be very unlucky and intensely painful,” he mentioned on radio, including that the investigation was persevering with.
Sarr, who’s in Geneva for the World Well being Meeting, mentioned he would reduce quick the journey and return to Senegal instantly.
Demba Diop Sy, the mayor of Tivaouane, one in every of Senegal’s holy cities and a transport hub situated 120km (74.56 miles) east of the capital, Dakar, mentioned “three infants had been saved”.
He added police and fireplace service had been nonetheless on the hospital, however didn’t present additional particulars.
‘Unacceptable’
Based on native media, the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital was newly inaugurated.
The tragedy in Tivaouane comes after a number of different incidents at public well being amenities in Senegal, the place there’s a nice disparity between city and rural areas in healthcare providers.
Within the northern city of Linguere in April final yr, a fireplace broke out at a hospital and 4 new child infants had been killed. The mayor of that city had cited {an electrical} malfunction in an air con unit within the maternity ward.
Seydi Gassama, Amnesty Worldwide’s Senegal director, mentioned his organisation had known as for an inspection and improve for neonatology providers in hospitals throughout Senegal after the “atrocious” demise of the 4 infants in Linguere.
With Wednesday’s new tragedy, Amnesty “urges the federal government to arrange an unbiased fee of inquiry to find out duty and punish the culprits, regardless of the extent they’re at within the state equipment”, he wrote on Twitter.
Opposition politician Mamadou Lamine Diallo additionally responded with outrage to the Tivaouane blaze that killed the infants.
“Extra infants burned in a public hospital … that is unacceptable @MackySall,” he mentioned.
“We undergo with the households to whom we provide our condolences. Sufficient is sufficient.”
