The spectre of crib deaths continued to haunt government-run Malda Medical College and Hospital where the number of infants who lost their lives rose to 18 in the past four days.
Three more infants died in the hospital since Friday, Medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal of the institution M A Rashid said, adding, majority of the infants who died were underweight, malnourished and suffered from respiratory problems.
These infants had been referred to Malda Medical College and Hospital from block primary health centres and were in critical condition, he said.
The age of all the dead infants was between one and 30 days, he added.
The hospital had witnessed many crib deaths last year.
