Published : 28 May 2026, 12:31 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 03:47 PM
Ad-din Medical College Hospital in Dhaka’s Moghbazar has expressed “deep sorrow and grief” after six newborns died in a single night inside the hospital’s post-delivery ward.
The incident has drawn fury across the country and triggered allegations of negligence, poor management and unsafe conditions.
The deaths, which occurred before dawn on the morning before Eid-ul-Azha, prompted police, CID investigators and senior health officials to rush to the hospital.
After inspecting the ward, Directorate General of Health Services Director General Prof Pravath Chandra Biswas said investigators found what appeared to be a suffocating environment inside the room, possibly linked to air-conditioning complications or another technical issue.
He said the ward lacked proper ventilation when the air-conditioning system was switched off.
During a media briefing, Ad-din Foundation Director General Dr Nahid Yasmin said 11 mothers had been admitted to the post-operative ward on Tuesday night.
Six newborns were staying beside their mothers there, while the remaining five infants were already receiving treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU.
“As a mother, I want to say there can be no greater pain than this. We cannot return the suffering of the parents whose infants have died. But we must investigate this thoroughly so that such an incident never happens here or anywhere else again.”
She said hospital staff suddenly learned that the six newborns in the ward were suffering breathing difficulties.
“Around 6am, they were taken to the NICU. After being taken there, two infants were found dead, while the remaining four were in very critical condition and placed on ventilators.
“Our doctors in the neonatal ICU tried very hard to save them... but a total of six infants died.”
Parents alleged that hospital authorities failed to properly monitor the infants or alert families quickly enough when the infants became critically ill.
Responding to the accusations, Dr Nahid said the situation escalated rapidly, and staff immediately transferred the infants to intensive care, where doctors attempted emergency treatment.
She said the newborns were suffering severe respiratory distress and could not be saved.
When asked whether negligence caused the deaths, Dr Nahid said the answer would depend on ongoing investigations involving forensic experts, health officials and legal specialists.
She stressed that no such incident had occurred at Ad-din Hospital since it began operating in 1997, despite handling a large number of deliveries.
Asked whether an air-conditioner leak may have played a role, she said the hospital regularly checked its cooling systems, but investigators were still examining whether any leak or malfunction occurred.
Dr Nahid also rejected allegations that the hospital had concealed information, insisting only six infants had died and the remaining five infants in the NICU were stable.
Addressing allegations that one infant had shown signs of suffocation hours earlier, she said a newborn was taken to the NICU after 3am due to breathing difficulties, but doctors found the infant’s vital signs normal and returned the infant to the ward.
She said the infants became critically ill around 6am, when all six were rushed together to the NICU.
In a separate statement, the hospital said several mothers had requested that the ward’s air-conditioners be switched off around 2am. Nurses later turned them back on at around 3am.
The statement added that one infant began crying abnormally around 4am and was taken to the NICU, followed later by the remaining five newborns.
According to the hospital, the first infant died at 6am, while the other five died between 6am and 9am.
The hospital said three nurses had been on duty in the ward overnight and that senior hospital officials, health department authorities and police officers remained at the facility investigating the incident.
It added that Ad-din had launched its own internal investigation and would take action if negligence or misconduct was identified.
