Nurse charged over Romanian newborns’ fire death

Romanian prosecutors yesterday charged a nurse with homicide over the death of five newborns in a fire that ripped through the intensive care unit of a Bucharest maternity hospital.

The nurse, who was supposed to watch over 13 premature babies in incubators, left the ward for 12 minutes for reasons that have yet to be determined, prosecutor Marius Iacob said.

The fire started in a faulty air conditioning unit and rapidly spread, immediately killing three babies and severely burning eight others. Two more died in the follwing days while six others are still in a critical condition.

Mr Iacob said the nurse had previously left the ward several times, without asking to be replaced.

If found guilty she can be sentenced to two to seven years in prison “and maybe more, since we are talking about several deaths,” he said.

The hospital’s managers have been suspended pending the final results of the investigation.