One baby dies after ceiling collapse in neonatal unit at Turkish hospital

One baby died after the ceiling of the neonatal intensive care unit of Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital in Istanbul collapsed due to a burst hot water pipe. Seven babies were rescued in the incident. The hospital’s chief physician argued that the death was not related to the incident, and the baby was already under a life-threatening condition.

Sunday August 04 2024 10:12 pm

Duvar English

The ceiling of the neonatal intensive care unit of an Istanbul hospital collapsed early on Aug. 4, as one premature baby died after the incident.

The incident took place at Istanbul’s Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital, ANKA News Agency reported.

Accordingly, the ceiling collapsed at the neonatal intensive care unit due to a burst hot water pipe. While seven babies were rescued from the unit, one baby died after the transfer.

The hospital was built in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic at the out-of-use Atatürk Airport compound.

The Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, to which the hospital is affiliated, issued a statement regarding the incident, and said, "After the babies were transferred, there was a deterioration in the medical condition of a baby who was born at 29 weeks of gestation, was three days old, weighed 1100 grams and was intubated. Despite all interventions, the baby could not be saved. A judicial and administrative investigation is ongoing."

Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Hastanesi'nde Yenidoğan Yoğun Bakım Ünitesinde yaşanan olay hakkında kamuoyu açıklaması pic.twitter.com/DJbx7H3cu0
— İÜC. Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi (@cerrahpasatipf) August 4, 2024

The hospital’s Chief Physician Emin Köse told Anadolu Agency that the hot water installation in the ceiling of the corridor of the neonatal intensive care unit had sprung a leak.

Köse said this corridor was not related to the patient rooms, and explained that when steam formed due to hot water, they started to transfer eight babies to the pediatric intensive care unit.

Köse argued that three of the babies were already under life-threatening conditions. “One of the babies died about half an hour after the transfer independently of the incident because it was not the case of water getting into any of our children or incubators at work or being affected by any vapor.”

Köse noted that some health workers were soaked with water but did not suffer any burns, adding that the water was at the same temperature as tap water.

He further argued that the entire ceiling did not collapse, a partial incident occurred and water accumulated on the floor due to leakage.

In a video published by the ANKA, boiling water is seen spreading from the ceiling that collapsed. One person is heard saying “Run! Get out of there! Hot water, hot water.” When the person he warned asked “Is there anyone there?” he said “There are babies there.”