Late on Monday, January 8, a crowd gathered outside the hospital, witnessing firefighters rushing into the burning building to rescue newborns from the neonatal unit.

Video footage captured the intense efforts as several fire engines pumped water towards the third and fourth floors, believed to be the source of the fire.

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In a somber joint statement, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Health and Medicine confirmed the devastating news, stating that the bodies of four children, who had been receiving treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit, were discovered.

The headlines echoed the heartbreaking event, proclaiming “Four Babies Killed as Fire Guts Maternity Hospital.”

Three individuals were hospitalized due to smoke poisoning, but their condition is reported as stable.

Reports from local media, Axar, indicated that a total of 26 babies were successfully evacuated from the maternity hospital.

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Ministry officials later announced that the fire at the Republican Perinatal Center on Yusif Safarov Street had been extinguished, and all patients and visitors were safely evacuated.