Moscow: At least nine newborns have died since the New Year in a maternity ward in the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk, according to official figures reported by the state news agency, TASS.
The health authority of the Kemerovo region was quoted by TASS on Tuesday as recording nine dead infants.
In Moscow, the Health Committee of the lower house of parliament, the Duma, and the chairperson of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, have demanded clarifications.
The State Investigative Committee for the region has opened a case into alleged negligence by medical staff.
News agency Ria Novosti reported that Maternity Ward Number 1 of the city hospital was closed due to pathogens associated with respiratory disease.
This had been increasingly observed among hospital workers.
There have been 32 infants in intensive care, including 16 premature babies, many of whom had infections acquired in the womb, the Kemerovo health authority explained.
“Unfortunately, nine children did not survive,” it was quoted as saying by TASS.
No information was given on how so many deaths could have occurred within just a few days.
According to regional Gov. Ilya Seredyuk, the hospital’s chief doctor has been temporarily suspended.
The city of Novokuznetsk, located in the coal- and industrial-rich Kuzbass region, has a population of 500,000 and is about 3,100 km east of Moscow, the Russian capital.
