A fire tore through the maternity ward of one of Baghdad’s largest hospitals on Wednesday, killing at least 12 premature babies, medical and security officials said.
Jassem Lateef al-Hijami, from the Baghdad health directorate, told reporters only seven babies could be saved and were taken to another ward in the Iraqi capital.
Health ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Rudeini told AFP the blaze at the Yarmuk hospital in west Baghdad was started by an electrical fault just after midnight (2100 GMT on Tuesday).
The grief of the bereaved parents and relatives in the hospital in Baghdad was compounded by the fact that the babies’ young age and the effects of the fire made it very difficult to identify the bodies.
