At least nine newborns have died since New Year in a maternity ward in the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk, according to official figures reported by state news agency, TASS.

The health authority of the Kemerovo region was quoted by TASS on Tuesday as recording nine dead infants.

In Moscow, the Health Committee of the Duma lower house and the chairperson of the Federation Council or upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, have demanded clarifications.

The State Investigative Committee for the region has opened a case into alleged negligence by medical staff.

Ria Novosti reported that Maternity Ward Number 1 of the city hospital was closed because of respiratory disease pathogens.

This had been increasingly detected among workers in the hospital.

There has been 32 infants in intensive care, including 16 premature babies, many of whom had infections acquired in the womb, the Kemerovo health authority explained.

“Unfortunately, nine children did not survive,” it was quoted as saying by TASS.

No information was given on how many deaths could have occurred within just a few days.

According to regional Governor Ilya Seredyuk, the chief doctor at the hospital has been temporarily suspended.

The city of Novokuznetsk, located in the coal and industrial area of Kuzbass, has a population of half a million and is about 3,100 km east of the Russian capital, Moscow. 

(dpa/NAN)