Indian hospital suffers 14 child deaths in three days

A child was pronounced dead today at a Calcutta hospital where 13 babies died over the previous two days, officials said.

A child was pronounced dead today at a Calcutta hospital where 13 babies died over the previous two days, officials said.

"A five-year-old boy, suffering from respiratory problems, died at dawn today [Tuesday]," said Mr Anup Mondal, superintendent of the B.C. Roy Children's Hospital.

The boy from Pirgacha village, south of Calcutta, was admitted to the hospital last week, Mr Mondal said.

Thirteen children, one a newborn baby and others aged between one and two, died in the state-run hospital on Sunday and yesterday.

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Doctors are baffled at the spate of deaths, which have apparently been from different causes. The chief minister of West Bengal state, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, said an investigation had begun.

Admissions to the hospital were put on hold as tensions ran high, with agitated parents and relatives of those who died demonstrating before the hospital superintendent's office.

Hundreds of people whose children were admitted to the hospital prior to the deaths gathered there to ask to take their children away.

AFP