A newborn who suffered burns to several parts of the body from excessive heat at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Royal Care and Surgical Hospital in Dhaka’s Chankharpul has died, four days after the incident.
The baby died on Wednesday afternoon while on life support at the NICU of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where the child had been receiving treatment. DMCH police camp in-charge Inspector Md Habibur Rahman said the body had been kept in the hospital morgue.
The baby was born at DMCH early on November 7. Doctors advised NICU care, but as no beds were available there, the family took the newborn to Royal Care and Surgical Hospital on the advice of a man named Matiur.
The baby’s father, Golam Rabbani, alleged that shortly after admission to the private hospital’s NICU, excessive heat burned parts of the child’s head, back and legs. He said the family heard screams inside the hospital and learned that the baby had been burned. He also alleged that no one was available when they went inside to check.
Rabbani said the baby was rescued and taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, which later referred the child to DMCH. The newborn was admitted to the hospital’s NICU and kept on life support, but died as the condition deteriorated on Wednesday afternoon.