The dead children ranged from babies to 12-year-olds
NEW DELHI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Thirty children have died at a hospital in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh since Wednesday due to encephalitis and delivery-related issues, a senior medical official said on Friday.
Chief Medical Superintendent Dr R.S. Shukla also denied accusations made by a district official in local media that the deaths were due to an oxygen shortage he said occurred after a private supplier withdrew its equipment over unpaid hospital dues.
The dead children ranged from babies to 12-year-olds.
Shukla said at least 10 of the children at BRD Medical College had died because of encephalitis, a disease that causes inflammation of the brain, while the rest had died from "delivery-related issues", without providing further details.
Other officials at the hospital were not immediately reachable.
Uttar Pradesh officials are conducting an investigation of the matter, said a senior state government official.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Rupam Nair; Writing by Rafael Nam; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.