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'We're overwhelmed by work,' nurses say after dead infants found stuffed in boxes

Nurses at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, have reportedly denied any wrongdoing after bodies of at least 12 infants were found stuffed in cardboard boxes and plastic bags.

According to the Star newspaper, the nurses defended themselves saying that they were overwhelmed by work, resulting in the high mortality rate of new-born babies.

The nurses also blamed consultant workers for "failing in their work". 

On the 12 bodies that were found at the hospital on Monday by the governor of Nairobi Mike Sonko, the nurses said they transported babies' bodies in boxes to the City Mortuary.

They said the bodies found had accumulated from the previous week after they had missed the mortuary transport.

Mysterious deaths

This came after the top hospital management was suspended after the corpses of the 12 infants were found stuffed in the boxes.

A video posted on YouTube by Daily Nation showed staff at the hospital struggling to explain why the bodies were stuffed in boxes.

A report by Standard said that police were investigating the "mysterious deaths of the infants".

Meanwhile, a caretaker board had been appointed to "oversee urgent reforms at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital so that quality healthcare is restored at the facility" the report said.

According to BBC, the hospital was one of the top public centres in Kenya and had been dogged by controversy for many years, including "allegations about the mistreatment of pregnant women".

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