Twenty-three children, including newborns, have died in the last four days at a state-run hospital here following which Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought a report from hospital authorities.
Niranjan Monahty, superintendent of Sardar Ballav Bhai Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics also known as 'Shishu Bhawan', said 23 deaths of newborns and other children were reported since Friday and five of them were recorded during 24 hours ending this afternoon.
The hospital authorities had ordered an internal enquiry, the report of which has been submitted to the government, Mohanty said.
The state government too ordered the Cuttack district chief medical officer to probe the incident.
The Cuttack district authorities also conducted an administrative enquiry into the allegations of parents over "misbehaviour" by the doctors and nurses of the hospital, officials said.
Meanwhile, taking suo motu cognisance of the case, the OHRC issued notices to the state government and the hospital authorities asking them to file details on it within a week.
