TIVAUAN, Senegal –
Police were on guard, and residents and parents were standing in mourning in front of a hospital in Senegal, where a fire in the neonatal ward killed 11 newborns. Only three babies can be saved, President Mackie Sol said before calling on Thursday for a three-day mourning period for lost young lives.
Mamadou Mbaye, who witnessed a fire Wednesday at Abdoul Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivauan, a town 120km (75 miles) northeast of the capital Dakar, told the Associated Press that conditions at the hospital were “brutal”.
“It was hot inside and smoky with suffocating heat and there was a power outage,” Mbaye said.
The grieving parents were still in shock.
“I baptized my child on Wednesday and he was baptized here in the hospital. To my great shock, I received a call telling me that the neonatal unit was destroyed by fire,” said Badara Faye, who lost her son.
Mustafa Cisse, who also lost a newborn, said they were still waiting for answers on how such a tragic fire could take the lives of their children.
The cause of the fire was a short circuit in the electrical network, according to Mayor Demba Diop.
Interior Minister Antoine Diom has announced that authorities will launch an investigation into the condition of hospital facilities as well as other health centers, Senegalese media reported.
President Sol called for three days of mourning.
“I express my deepest condolences to their mothers and families,” Sol wrote on Twitter after hearing the news of the fire.
His chief of staff, Minister Augustine Tine, visited the remains of the hospital on Thursday.
“We came to be close to people, especially parents,” he said. We came to share the suffering, he added, “to share our condolences and to say again that it is a misfortune that has befallen our country, but we keep our faith.”
The deadly fire comes a year after four other newborns died in a fire at a hospital in Lingere, northern Senegal.
A number of other deaths have also raised concerns about the health of mothers and babies in the West African nation, known for some of the best hospitals in the region.
Earlier this month, authorities discovered that a baby pronounced dead by a nurse’s assistant was still alive in the morgue. The baby later died.
Last year, a pregnant woman died in Luga, in the northern part of the country, after waiting in vain for a caesarean section. Three midwives received 6 months suspended sentences for failing to help an endangered person.
Health Minister Abdullah Diouf Sar, who was attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, interrupted his trip to return to Senegal.
We have come back to life with the constellation and consternation of the 11 new days, in the presence of the neonatal service of the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh de Tivaouane hospital. For mothers and family members, I express my deep compassion.
– Mackie Sol (@Macky_Sall) May 25, 2022
I am present at the death of the atroce and inacceptable of 11 new ones in Tivaoune. Recurrence of tragedies in our hospitals rapprochement of the bond to restore the quality of service in the hospital center. Mes plus sincere condolences, aux familles.
– Cheikh Bamba Dièye (@bamba_dieye) May 26, 2022
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