The negligence and mismanagement of Ad-Din Hospital authorities and staffers contributed to the deaths of six newborns at the facility last week, said Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Thursday.

Legal action will be taken against the hospital to this end, and the measures will be determined by Monday, he told reporters at a briefing held at the Secretariat in the capital.

The government would take stringent measures to pre-empt a repetition of similar crisis in other hospitals, the minister warned.

The government appointed high-level probe committee has found clear evidence of “gross negligence” by the doctors, nurses and authorities of the private hospital, the minister noted.

Ventilation of air and supply of oxygen fell to dangerous level for newborns in the post-delivery ward-2 of the hospital in the early hours of 27 May. The presence of carbon-di-oxide was also abnormally high.

Prolonged shut down of the air conditioning system reduced air ventilation, but discounting the effect of the AC shutdown, the building itself is not suitable for adequate air movement, the minister said.

The building does not support other hospital functions as well.

The hospital is also operated at overcapacity, while the nurses and staffers demonstrate utter disregard for the concerns of the patients and their guardians, Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain further said.

The probe committee submitted its report to the Health Ministry on Tuesday.

On 27 May, six newborns died within three hours at the post-delivery ward-2 of the hospital, located in Maghbazar, Dhaka. Initially it was thought that gas leakage from the AC contributed to the deaths. Now, more widespread role of the careless authorities has been found.

A parent of one of the newborns has already filed a lawsuit with the Ramna Model Police Station, holding the hospital authorities accountable for the deaths.