Four babies dead, others with serious burns after Giulesti maternity blast (update)

Four babies have died after a blast which took place at Giulesti Maternity hospital in Bucharest last evening. The fire, which started started in the resuscitation unit, was soon after extinguished, but 11 newborn babies were affected. They were one or two days old and premature born. As events unfolded, not all the babies had been identified, while mothers were waiting outside the hospital for news. The seven newborn survivors were sent to the Grigore Alexandrescu children's hospital. Some of them are severely burnt, with more than 70 percent of their bodies covered by burns. The entire staff and the patients in the hospital, more than 60 moms and 53 babies were evicted from the hospital. 20 pregnant women who were in labor at the time of the blast were sent to the Caritas hospital in the capital city. An investigation was started to determine the cause of the fire. The Romanian Health Ministry will hold a press conference on Tuesday, August 17, at 11,00 hours (Romania time) to announce the latest developments.