Four newborns have died in the last 24 hours allegedly due to negligence in treatment at the district headquarters hospital in Odisha’s Keonjhar district, PTI reported on Sunday.

Their parents alleged that the infants succumbed in the hospital’s Special Newborn Care Unit, or SNCU, as they were not supplied with oxygen on time. They also claimed that doctors were absent when the condition of the kids worsened during the night.

“Since we are not allowed to go inside the SNCU, there is no scope to ascertain whether the kids are being attended to properly and timely,” one of the mothers of a kid said, according to PTI. “There was no doctor present in the hospital on Saturday night and nurses were seen running for oxygen.”

The incident led to protests by the parents, who sought action against the doctors whose alleged negligence led to the death of the children. Some even damaged the hospital property.

Chief District Medical and Public Health Officer Sujata Rani Mishra said that 13 children have died in the hospital since September 1. She, however, refuted the allegations of negligence by doctors.

“The hospital record says 128 kids have been admitted in the last one month and 13 of them have died due to birth-related complications and low birth weight,” Mishra said, according to PTI.

Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister NK Das said that he has sought a report from the district administration on the deaths.

“This is an unfortunate incident,” Das said. “We must ascertain the cause of the children’s death.”