Technical fault suspected in deaths of six newborns at Ad-Din hospital

Six newborn babies, who died this morning at Ad-Din Medical College Hospital in Dhaka’s Moghbazar area, may have died due to a technical failure at the post-operative room, health officials said. Prof Zahid Raihan, additional director general (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services, said one of the guardians in the post-operative room complained around 2:00am that the babies were feeling cold. Following the complaint, the air conditioning system in the room was reportedly shut down for around an hour, he told reporters at the hospital.

According to Prof Zahid, the condition of one of the newborns deteriorated around 4:00am, and the child was shifted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). About half an hour later, the baby was returned to the post-operative room after showing signs of improvement.

However, around 6:00am, a nurse found one of the babies motionless. The child was then taken to the NICU. As the conditions of the other newborns worsened, all of them were shifted to the NICU, he said. The six infants, all aged between one and three days, died within one to two hours, according to Prof Zahid. “We do not think the sudden deaths of six children occurred due to treatment complications.

We suspect some technical issue or fault may have been responsible,” he said. A team from the Criminal Investigation Department has already started investigating the incident, while the hospital’s post-operative room has been closed, he added.