Two children die as Kiambu hospital runs out of oxygen

Two children died while undergoing treatment at the Kiambu Level Four Hospital on Wednesday night after the facility allegedly ran out of oxygen.

The incident happened hours after President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned medical equipment worth Sh380 million at the hospital.

The parents of the children said the two, who were on oxygen, died minutes apart after 7 p.m.

Ms Esther Wambui, the mother to one and a half-year-old Henry Ndung'u said her son died shortly after another child, who was lying next to hers, passed away.

She said she realised the skin of the baby lying adjacent to her son had begun changing colour and called nurses.

“We noticed that the baby’s skin was turning purple and I decided to look for someone to assist us but the nurses refused to attend to him,” she said.

The baby, identified as master Stanley Mwangi, died shortly after.

His mother, Ms Ann Wanjiku said she lost her son due to the nurses’ negligence.

Ms Wambui's son died shortly after.

“I was busy following the other baby’s (Mwangi) case, we never knew that the oxygen was running out. My baby died minutes later,” she said.

When contacted for comment, the hospital's Medical Superintendent Dr David Kariuki denied that the facility had run out of oxygen.

“The paediatric section has enough oxygen supply. The (babies) may have succumbed to their illness,” he said.