Twelve newborn babies were burnt to death after a fire ripped through a maternity ward at a Baghdad hospital overnight, government officials said on Wednesday.
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Electrical fires are common in the Iraqi capital and elsewhere across the country because of shoddy maintenance and poor wiring – a lack of fire escapes also contributes to the danger whenever a fire breaks out.
The position of the Iraqi Health Ministry was made known by its spokesman, Ahmmed al-Rudaini.
But 12 babies are understood to have been killed by the blaze with heartbreaking photographs at the scene showing badly damaged incubators.
The incident took place at dawn when a fire broke out at the maternity wards in Yarmouk Hospital in western Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Families of newborn babies who died in the fire gather outside Yarmouk hospital.
One mother, Shaima Hassan lost her two-days old son in the blaze.
Health minister Adila Hamoud offered to resign if the investigation proved that the fire was caused by negligence at her department.
Three other newborns survived and were treated for smoke inhalation.
“Then someone broke a window and threw me out”, she added.
Hussein Omar, 30, said he feared that his week-old twins had died.
Hospital officials had told him to look for them at the other hospitals in Baghdad, he told AP.
“I went to the other hospital, they are not there, so where are they?” he said.
“I found him in a small cardboard box but I’m not even sure if it’s our child or a piece of sponge”. “I just want our child, somebody give him to me”, she cried.
Saadi said that authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, and they have not ruled out the possibility of terrorist attack.
Eshrak Ahmed Jaasar, 41, told the news agency that her 4-day-old nephew was missing after his mother was moved to another hospital ward.
“We pay the hospital employees thousands of Iraqi dinars to allow us in to get our loved ones basic food and milk, which they can not provide”, she added.
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‘It’s a corrupt government that doesn’t care about its citizens and lets this happen, ‘ she said.
