Balangir, Oct. 24: Death of seven newborns at district headquarters hospital here on Tuesday has sparked off a controversy.

The state health department has sent a team to the district to inquire into the deaths.

The incident comes in the wake of a similar controversy on July 19 at VSS Medical College Hospital in Burla, where nine babies died within a span of 24 hours.

Balangir chief district medical officer has also sent a team to the villages, to which parents of the deceased babies belong, for inquiry.

Hospital sources said four of the seven babies, who died, were born at district headquarters hospital, while the rest had been referred here from other hospitals in a critical condition. The babies were born to mothers, who hail from Balangir, Nuapada and Sonepur districts.

The deaths in quick succession on Tuesday in the special newborn care unit triggered panic among the parents. The doctors, however, denied any neglect and attributed the deaths to the babies’ critical condition. Additional district medical officer (medical) Dr Manjubala Panda said the children had been admitted at the unit in a critical condition, which might have led to the deaths.

“The unit is well equipped. On being informed about the deaths, I personally visited it and I didn’t see any lapses in the treatment of the newborns, who had been admitted in a critical condition. We will conduct an inquiry into the matter,” she said.

The doctor in charge of the unit is on leave for a long time, and at present, there is none to look after the facility.

Balangir chief district medical officer Dr Vikrant Kindo said he had sent a team to the villages of the victims to record the parents’ statements. “Five of them had been referred to VSS, but the parents did not shift them. Today, I will submit a report about the matter to the government,” he said.

After the VSS incidents, the state government had ordered an inquiry, which later gave a clean chit to the hospital.