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Published : 27 May 2026, 04:17 PM
From Munshiganj and beyond, anxious families carried newborn children into Ad-din Medical College Hospital believing the sprawling private facility would do what they could not -- protect fragile new lives hanging between danger and survival.
Instead, before dawn had fully broken on Wednesday, those hopes collapsed into horror.
Inside the second-floor Post-Operative Ward-2 of the hospital in Moghbazar, six newborns died in rapid succession under circumstances so baffling that investigators are now scrambling to determine whether a gas leak, technical malfunction or catastrophic negligence turned a recovery ward into a death chamber.
By morning, the corridor outside the ward had become a scene of devastation.
Mothers screamed in grief. Fathers stood motionless in shock. Elderly relatives cradled tiny lifeless bodies wrapped in hospital cloth.
Nurses rushed between wards as rumours spread that the death toll could still rise.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has formed a three-member high-level investigation committee, while the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched a separate probe into the mysterious deaths.
But for grieving families, the questions came with unbearable cruelty: how could healthy newborns die almost simultaneously inside one of the capital’s best-known hospitals?
Among the mourners was Masuka, an elderly woman from Munshiganj identified by a single name, sitting outside the ward with the body of her 3-day-old granddaughter in her arms while her daughter-in-law Mim, also identified by a single name, lay unconscious nearby.
The family had travelled to Dhaka believing better treatment would save the child if complications emerged after birth. They had trusted the hospital’s reputation, its scale, its promises.
Masuka’s words carried the weight of shattered faith.
"It's such a big hospital. I came hoping that they would take responsibility, whether things were good or bad. I didn't think about money."
Her voice broke as she described the terrifying moments leading up to the deaths.
According to her, the newborns in the ward suddenly began screaming and crying together in the early hours of the morning -- a sound relatives now say they will never forget.
"I took her in my arms and prayed for her. Then I ate a little and went for Fajr prayers."
While she prayed, disaster unfolded behind her.
Her son came running with the news that the child had died.
Masuka later noticed something deeply disturbing -- the infant’s body had turned reddish.
Hospital authorities confirmed that six newborns died during the incident.
Ashraful Islam, assistant director of the hospital, identified the mothers of the dead infants only as Najma, who had delivered twins, Meem, Faria and Jannat -- all identified with single names.
Another dead newborn was identified as the child of a man named Habibur.
Yet uncertainty continues to hang over the true scale of the tragedy.
Relatives of several patients claimed that at least 11 newborns may have died.
Some alleged that families quietly left the hospital carrying the bodies of their children without realising that multiple deaths had occurred under suspicious circumstances.
Nurse Chandana, identified by a single name, told bdnews24.com that two more newborns from the same ward are now fighting for their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU.
Hospital sources said the infants affected were all positioned on the “right side” of the ward.
What happened there remains unclear.
Nurses on duty insist the newborns had appeared healthy and stable only hours before the tragedy.
Hospital Director Nahid Yasmin said, "This is an OT post-delivery ward. Six infants were taken to the NICU around 6am."
Soon after the deaths, police officers and CID investigators flooded the hospital premises.
Sheikh Jahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna Division, said investigators had yet to determine the cause.
"What we know so far is that there were six children and all six died. The causes of the deaths is not yet known. Our CID expert team is present. They will conduct examinations and report."
DGHS’ Prof Pravath Chandra Biswas later visited the scene and announced the formation of a three-member investigation panel under instructions from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The committee includes a ministry joint secretary, the deputy director of the health department’s hospital wing and another senior official.
Prof Pravat said, "The investigation report will be available within the next 48 to 72 hours. Whether there was any fault in the medical management in that room of the hospital, whether there was an AC issue or any other technical fault -- these are being investigated."
He also acknowledged possible weaknesses in patient care inside the ward.
"We inspected the room and saw that there was a team of nurses there. If the child was sick, they would have been sent to the fifth-floor NICU.
“However, we feel that there is a weakness here. We will strictly investigate whether there was any negligence in providing services at that time in the morning. If negligence is proven, strict action will be taken against those concerned."
The tragedy has also reignited older allegations surrounding conditions inside the hospital.
Local residents and businessmen near the facility said complaints about poor hygiene, insects and rude behaviour from hospital staff have circulated for years.
Ruhul Amin, a resident of nearby Mouchak whose nephew was once born at the hospital, voiced his anger bluntly.
"Even us adults cannot tolerate the infestation of insects in the children's ward. Even if we complain about them, they (the hospital’s management) don't care. On the contrary, they behave rudely. Adults can tolerate a lot, but how can fragile children tolerate all this? I will never ask anyone to admit a child to this hospital."
As investigators search for answers inside the ward, grieving families are left haunted by a more painful reality -- they came to the hospital seeking life, and walked away carrying death.
