Panicked parents demonstrated and locked the gate of a city hospital in the capital’s Lalmatia area after three newborns died within two hours early yesterday allegedly due to wrong treatment.
Almost all the other patients were shifted to other hospitals after the incident came to light. However, nurses and staff at the hospital – Asian Cardiac and General Hospital – claimed that the newborns had been too weak to survive.
The dead are three-day-old Kakoli, daughter of Jalal Ahmed; 19-day-old Shilpi, daughter of Awal Miah; and two-month-old Afrin, daughter of Akhter Hossain.
During the demonstration, staff of Asian Cardiac and General Hospital, at block B of Lalmatia, and the relatives of the dead newborns engaged in arguments and scuffles.
The angry relatives also locked the main gate around 11am after the hospital authorities and majority of the staff fled the scene.
On information, a team of Mohammadpur police went to the spot but found no senior official or doctors there.
OC Jamal Uddin Meer said that they had not received any compliant by the parents of the three victims.
“We are scrutinising the documents of the hospital and investigating the deaths of the newborns,” he said.
A nurse of the hospital identifying herself as Joya said: “The hospital authorities cannot be blamed for the deaths. The newborns were taken to the hospital in a critical condition. It was difficult to save their lives.”
She claimed that they had adequate facilities and equipment to treat the children.
Awal Miah of Dohar admitted his daughter Shilpi to the hospital on September 20. “Last Sunday, I requested the doctors to discharge her. But they refused to do so saying that she will be released today [yesterday].
“They kept their words – they gave me my daughter … but dead,” he said while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.
He alleged that at least six children including the three newborns died due to wrong treatment in a week at the hospital.