Kolkata, Oct 27: Thirteen infants have died at the B C Roy Children's Hospital here within a span of 40 hours prompting chief minister Mamata Banerjee to order a probe.
18 infants had died in this hospital in June this year. Six infants died on Wednesday while seven succumbed on Thursday morning, hospital Superintendent Dilip Roy said.
Roy explained, delayed admission of the babies who were already in a critical condition led to the deaths.
“We are always trying to improve service and treatment but some deaths are taking place since the babies are being brought here at a critical stage,” he said.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has set up a four-member committee to probe the deaths.
Family members of a six-month-old boy Abir Mondal from Kaikhali in South 24-Parganas district who died at the hospital, demonstrated and blocked the road in the morning.
Hospital authorities, however, dismissed it saying, “some outsiders not known to the affected family tried to foment trouble in the hospital premises but normalcy was restored soon.”
