News Center- A fire erupted Monday evening at Women and Children’s Hospital in Diwaniyiah, southern Iraq, sending smoke through a maternity ward and killing four babies who had been born prematurely.

According to the local sources, the hospital building did not burn but it was filled with smoke, and the four babies died of chest problems as a result of smoke inhalation.

Iraq’s Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its teams successfully evacuated 150 children and 190 relatives from the hospital. It also said that the fire might have been triggered by an electrical problem.

At a press conference, the Iraqi Health Ministry said that the fire had started at a pile of debris belonging to a construction company working on renovations at the hospital.

In 2016, a fire ripped through a maternity ward at a Baghdad hospital overnight, killing 12 newborn babies. In September 2023, more than 100 people died in a blaze ignited by fireworks during a wedding ceremony in the Qaraqosh town of Iraq.