11 infants die in Andhra hospital within 48 hours

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday ordered a probe into the deaths of 11 infants in two days at a government-run hospital, allegedly due to clinical negligence.

He asked two ministers from Kurnool district to visit the Government General Hospital  and take necessary action.

Seven babies died at the hospital on Thursday, a day after four infants lost their lives, allegedly due to a defective oxygen supply system.  All the babies were one to five days old.

The parents of the babies alleged that they died due to lack of  oxygen supply through the ventilators. A pipeline that supplies oxygen  to the neonatal ward was allegedly not working properly because of the  negligence of hospital authorities.

Health Minister DL Ravindra Reddy said a team of officials  and experts had been sent to Kurnool to ascertain the facts. He said action  would be taken against the concerned officials if any lapses were found.

The hospital officials termed the deaths as "routine". Denying  any negligence, they claimed that infants died due to post-natal  complications. According to them, every day six to 10 newborn babies  die at the hospital due to health complications.