The president of Senegal Macky Sall on Wednesday, May 25 announced that 11 newborn babies died in a hospital fire in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane.
“I have just learned with pain and dismay about the deaths of 11 newborn babies in the fire at the neonatal department of the public hospital, “to their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy,” Sall tweeted.
According to Senegal’s health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, the dreadful tragedy which happened at Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in the transport hub of Tivaouane, was caused by “a short circuit”. Adding that only three babies were saved.
The Health Minister, who is in Geneva for the World Health Assembly, said he would cut short the trip and return to Senegal immediately. Demba, the mayor of Tivaouane, one of Senegal’s holy cities and a transport hub, reported that police and fire service were still at the hospital, but did not provide further details.
Moreover, the calamity in Tivaouane comes following several other occurrences at public health facilities in the country, where there is great discrepancy between the urban and rural areas in healthcare services.
Furthermore, due to the Wednesday, May 25 tragedy, Amnesty International’s Senegal director Seydi Gassama has asked the Senegal government to put in place an independent commission of inquiry to determine responsibility and punish the culprits, no matter the level they are at in the state apparatus.