Fire at hospital in Senegal kills 11 newborns: President Macky Sall

Eleven newborn babies died in a fire in the neonatal unit of a hospital in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane, the country’s president said late Wednesday.

"I have just learned with pain and dismay about the deaths of 11 newborn babies in the fire that occurred in the neonatal department of Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in Tivaouane. To their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy,” Macky Sall said on Twitter.

The fire was caused by a short circuit, according to Diop Sy, the mayor of Tivaouane, local media reported.