Four newborn babies die in two hours at South Korean hospital; investigation underway
Infants weren’t breathing normally and had swollen abdomens
By Ko Dong-hwan
The deaths of four newborn infants on Saturday night have triggered a police investigation at Ewha Womans University Medical Centre in South Korea. The Seoul hospital was questioned months ago about a controversial “insect fluid” given to a baby.
Four pre-term infants in incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit at the major hospital in Yangcheon-gu died between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time. Before their deaths, medical staff noticed the infants were not breathing normally and that their abdomens were disproportionately swollen. Staff performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but failed to save their lives.
Hospital officials told Yangcheon police that the deaths “do not seem to have originated from a contagious cause.” Investigators from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and officials from National Forensic Service searched the hospital on Sunday. The forensic service plans to perform autopsies.
The hospital said “four infants encountering a cardiac arrest almost at the same time is rare.” They said the infants died one by one while receiving the emergency treatment between 9:31 p.m. and 10.53 p.m.
