Baghdad hospital fire kills 13 newborn babies

A fire that erupted in a hospital in Baghdad has killed 13 newborn babies, the country's health ministry has said.

Ahmed al-Roudaini, a spokesperson for the ministry said the blaze broke out in the maternity department of Yarmouk hospital late on Tuesday night.

Firefighters took three hours to douse the flames at the facility, which is the main hospital in western Baghdad and houses emergency care and teaching facilities.

Officials said the fire spread from a hospital lounge, destroying part of the maternity ward and a lobby.

Al-Mada Press, an independent news agency in Baghdad, reported that 29 female patients and seven babies were moved from the ward where the fire broke out and transferred to another hospital.

Early investigations suggest the fire was caused by an electrical fault, which are commonly caused by poor maintenance and wiring.

Mariam Thijeel, the mother of a newborn baby boy who died, said she ran into the ward as she heard screaming late on Tuesday night.

"The power was cut off, and then the doors got locked on us, and there was no man in the newborn section, and we could not save any babies," she told the New York Times, describing chaos as parents desperately tried to find a hospital worker with keys.

"We asked the help of one of the employees, but she said, 'I cannot help you with anything, because it's a fire."

The incident is likely to intensify accusations of state corruption and mismanagement, with 2013 recommendations to reduce fire risks in municipal buildings having little effect.

Thirteen years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the oil-rich country still suffers a shortage of electricity, water, schools and hospitals.

Pictures posted on social media recently showed Yarmouk hospital in a state of neglect, with cockroaches crawling out from between broken tiles, dustbins overflowing with rubbish, dirty toilets and patients lying on stretchers in the courtyard.

The relative of a patient who died recently in the hospital from meningitis said he saw cockroach crawling along the tube of an oxygen mask.

“It was so dirty,” he said. “We had to bring our own bed sheets.”

The Iraqi capital has been hit by a string of suicide bombings and attacks by Isis militants in recent months.

Yarmouk hospital has been the target of several vehicle bombs in the past, including one that struck its car park in April last year and another that was detonated outside its accident and emergency department in 2004.

Additional reporting by AP