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  12 babies burn to death in Baghdad hospital blaze

12 babies burn to death in Baghdad hospital blaze

AFP
Published : Aug 11, 2016, 3:26 am IST
Updated : Aug 11, 2016, 3:26 am IST

A fire tore through the maternity ward of one of Baghdad’s largest hospitals on Wednesday, killing at least 12 premature babies, medical and security officials said.

Families of newborn babies, who died in the fire, gather outside the maternity ward at Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad. (Photo: AP)
 Families of newborn babies, who died in the fire, gather outside the maternity ward at Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad. (Photo: AP)

A fire tore through the maternity ward of one of Baghdad’s largest hospitals on Wednesday, killing at least 12 premature babies, medical and security officials said.

Jassem Lateef al-Karkh, from the Baghdad health directorate, told reporters only seven babies could be saved and were taken to another ward in the Iraqi capital. Health ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Rudeini said the blaze at the Yarmuk hospital in west Baghdad was started by an electrical fault just after midnight. “Twenty-nine women who were in the same ward were evacuated to other hospitals,” he said.

Security services sealed off the area as forensic teams searched the gutted ward and angry relatives massed outside, waiting for information from the authorities. Charred incubators could be seen outside one of the entrances to the hospital, access to which was strictly controlled by the police.

Location: Iraq, Baghdad