TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY and SHAHEEN MOLLAH

Six newborns died at Ad-Din Medical College in the capital’s Moghbazar yesterday morning, with health officials suspecting a technical failure in the hospital’s post-operative room may have caused the tragedy.

The infants, aged between one and three days, died within a span of a few hours from 6:00am yesterday. The exact cause of the deaths could not be confirmed immediately, but authorities said investigations are underway.

Hospital sources said the deceased babies had not yet been named as they were only between one and three days old. Therefore, they are being identified by their mothers’ names.

Among the mothers is Nazma, whose twin babies both died. The other four mothers – Fahima, Mim, Faria and Jannat – lost one child each.

Prof Zahid Raihan, additional director general (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services, said, “We do not think the sudden deaths of six children occurred due to treatment complications. We suspect some technical issue or fault may have been responsible.”

Anisur Rahman, special superintendent of police of the Criminal Investigation Department (Dhaka Metro South Unit), said something in the post-operative room may have caused the newborns to suffocate to death.

“We are investigating to determine what caused the suffocation,” he told The Daily Star at the hospital premises.

Several victim families accused the hospital authorities of mismanagement that led to the deaths.

Speaking to The Daily Star, DGHS Director General Prof Pravath Chandra Biswas said the post-operative room is located on the first floor of the hospital, while the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is on the fifth floor.

“The rooms should have been near each other. We found it [the distance between the rooms] problematic.”

He said the hospital’s treatment, technical issues and structural setup are being investigated.

A three-member committee, led by Mustafizur Rahman, joint secretary of the health ministry, has been formed to investigate the incident. The committee, which also includes two members from the DGHS, has been asked to submit its report within three days.

DG Pravath said they have shut down the post-operative room and seized treatment-related documents for investigation.

The 700-bed medical facility is one of eight hospitals and four medical colleges run by the Ad-din Foundation.

The foundation’s Executive Director Sheikh Mohiuddin, who is also executive director of Ad-din Women Medical College, is the incumbent president of the Bangladesh Private Medical College Association.

HOW THE INCIDENT UNFOLDED

Health officials and hospital authorities said there were six newborns and their mothers in the post-operative room.

There were five other mothers in the room whose babies had already

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