6 more babies die at SOMCH Committees start investigations .

A committee formed by the health ministry began on Wednesday investigation into the death of 32 patients, including five newborns, in 24 hours till Tuesday morning at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital, while 17 more patients, including six babies, died at the hospital in 24 hours till Wednesday morning. The hospital director, Brigadier General Abdus Sabur, however, claimed that the six babies died between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning because of cold related diseases like pneumonia and bronchitis and other health complications. The three-member probe committee of health ministry joint secretary Mosharraf Hossain, Directorate General of Health Services (hospital and nursing) director Samiul Islam Saadi and Dhaka Medical College Hospital paediatric specialist Abir Hossain Rabbi reached the Sylhet hospital at around noon on Wednesday.

They sat in a meeting with Abdus Sabur Miah at his office at the hospital and visited the paediatric wards in the afternoon, hospital sources said. Probe body member Abir Hossain Rabbi at a briefing told the reporters that they were investigating the causes of the deaths and talking to all people concerned to find out whether the death incidents were usual or not. ‘We also are examining the records of treatment given to the patients before their death and the management of the hospital to ascertain whether there was any negligence,’ Rabbi said. He said that seriously sick patients might die anytime due to illness at the hospital, but the number of deaths was a bit high on Tuesday. Asked whether any anomaly was found at the initial stage of the investigation, Rabbi said that it would not be possible for them to make any comments before completing the probe. Abdus Sabur Miah said that another probe committee formed by the hospital authority with its medicine department chief Ismail Hossain Patwari as the chief also started its work on Wednesday.

Ten babies, including 5 newborns, died in a span of 10 hours and 22 more patients of different ages died in 24 hours at the hospital till Tuesday morning, causing panic among the patients and their attendants. Relatives of the deceased blamed wrong treatments and negligence in providing timely care by the physicians for the deaths.

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