A late-night blaze at a maternity clinic in Azerbaijan has left four infants dead, officials said Tuesday, as the Caucasus country’s authoritarian leader vowed to personally oversee an investigation into the fire.
Rescuers working at night hauled out patients in incubators from the facility in the capital Baku and transferred them to ambulances, according to images released by the emergency services.
“Four newborn babies died at the Republican Perinatal Center in Baku, and three people were poisoned by smoke,” the emergencies ministry said in a statement.
Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, cited by local media, said the fire had broken out at 03:05 local time (2305 GMT) but had been quickly extinguished.
He said a forthcoming investigation would determine whether the four children being treated in an intensive care unit were killed directly by the fire or by smoke inhalation.
“We need time for a thorough investigation into what happened,” he was cited as saying by government press agency APA.
Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into violations of fire safety rules and negligence, and said that President Ilham Aliyev will oversee the probe personally.
Azerbaijan, a major producer of fossil fuels, will host the COP29 climate conference in November 2024.
