Parents block road after 13 babies die at hospital in India's Kolkata

Parents block road after 13 babies die at hospital in India's Kolkata

2011-10-28 16:10:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS) -- At least 13 babies have died since Tuesday at a state-run hospital in India's eastern city of Kolkata, local media reported on Friday, leading to a protest by angry parents.

A group of relatives of children who died blocked a road outside the government-run hospital, accusing the hospital of negligence, NDTV reported. However, the health department has said there is no evidence of medical negligence.

"I was requesting the doctors to please come and have a look at my child but they didn't come," a young father who has lost his son told NDTV. "I thought now my child is surely dying so I started crying. That's when eight nurses came to see my child and started putting pressure on his chest, but they were putting pressure on his dead body."

Doctors denied the negligence allegations, claiming that on average, the hospital does see five to six deaths a day. They said that most of the infants who had died were brought to the hospital in a critical condition, according to NDTV.

In June, the deaths of 21 babies at the same hospital within two days also sparked protests by angry parents. Authorities ordered an investigation, but the inquiry absolved the hospital of medical negligence. The inquiry asked for new facilities to be added, but the hospital still does not have a CT scan facility and a blood storage unit.

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