Senegal/Health Minister Sacked After Babies Die in Hospital Fire. President Macky Sall has sacked his health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr (photo)

The news agency quoted a government decree, issued after 11 babies were killed by a fire in a hospital neonatal ward. Sarr will be replaced by Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye, the ministry’s director general, according to the decree.

RFI reports that the fire ravaged the neonatal unit of the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh hospital in the western city of Tivaouane on May 25, 2022. The fire was reportedly caused by a short circuit in the hospital. The city’s mayor Demba Diop said that three babies were saved.

The tragedy comes after four newborn babies died in a fire at a hospital in the town of Linguere, whose mayor cited an electrical malfunction in an air conditioning unit in the maternity ward. In April a pregnant woman died in a hospital in Louga after being refused a Caesarean section.

Amnesty International has called for inspections and upgrades for neonatology services in hospitals across the country. In a Twitter post the group’s Senegal director, Seydi Gassama, urged the government to set up an independent commission of inquiry into the latest tragedy.

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