Sylvie Claire / May 26, 2022
Eleven newborn babies died Wednesday in a fire at a hospital in Tivaouane, in western Senegal, President Macky Sall announced on Twitter.
I have just learned with pain and dismay the death of 11 newborns in the fire that occurred in the neonatal department of the public hospital of Tivaouane, said Sall.
Three babies were saved, said the mayor of Tivaouane, Demba Diop.
The fire was caused by a short circuit and the fire spread very quickly, said Diop, also a member of the National Assembly and better known as Diop Sy.
The hospital was recently inaugurated, according to the local press.
In early April, another tragedy in another public hospital had already shaken Senegal.
In Louga (north), a pregnant woman died after waiting in vain for a Caesarean section. This death had caused a wave of indignation on social networks against the deficiencies of the public health system.
Following this tragedy, three midwives were sentenced on May 11 to six months' suspended prison for failure to assist a person in danger by the High Court of Louga. Three other midwives were acquitted.
Four newborn babies died on April 25, 2021 in a fire in the northern Senegalese town of Linguère.
The mayor of Linguère, then Minister of the Interior, Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, had mentioned an electrical malfunction of an air conditioning unit in the maternity ward, where six babies were.