7 babies die in Bengal hospital

In the last 24 hours, seven babies — aged between three hours to three months, died in Malda Medical College and Hospital taking the total figure of infant deaths in the state to more than 50 in the last eight months.

“Yes, seven babies have died in the last 24 hours. The babies were mostly premature born and underweight; some of them carried acute infections. The age of the babies ranged from three hours to three months,” acting superintendent of the hospital, Subrata Som, said.

When asked what could be the reasons for the deaths, Som said, “I’ve taken charge today as superintendent is on leave. I cannot comment on it but can certainly say there was no negligence from our part.”  “We have information that seven babies have died in Malda Medical College and Hospital,” said Chandrima Bhattacharya, who took over as MoS for Health few days back.