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[Anchor Lead]

Four newborn babies died within an hour and 20 minutes of each other at Ewha Womans University Hospital in Seoul. The infants were being kept in incubators at the time. The cause of death was cardiac arrest, but authorities don’t know why it happened. The families of the infants are calling for an investigation.

[Pkg]

It was around 5:44 PM last Saturday when a newborn baby in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital went into cardiac arrest. Then three other babies suffered cardiac arrest one after another at 7:23, 9, and 9:08 PM. Hospital staff performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation six times on the four babies, but they all died. Four newborns died in succession within an hour and 21 minutes.

[Soundbite] Dr. Cho Su-jin(Head of NICU, EWU Mokdong Hosp.) : "They were in the most critical area among the 16 babies in NICU."

The four deceased babies were in the incubators in the same area and were being treated in the hospital for about a month, starting on the 9th. The president of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital personally apologized for the series of infant deaths.

[Soundbite] Dr. Chung Hye-won(Pres. EWU Mokdong Hosp.) : "I once again apology deeply to the families of the deceased babies, in-patients and their families."

The families of the dead babies claimed the hospital did not take proper measures and demanded an investigation into what had actually caused the deaths. The families said the infants' abdomens had been bloated and called for the police to find out the cause. The hospital said the remaining 12 preemies in the neonatal intensive care unit had been discharged or transferred to other hospitals.