(CNN) -- A nurse at a Romanian hospital has been charged with murder in the deaths of five newborns killed in a fire in an intensive care unit, prosecutors said Monday.
Florentina Daniela Cirstea will remain in police custody for 24 hours and appear before a judge Tuesday, said Marius Iacob, chief prosecutor in charge of the investigation. She is accused of failing to fulfill duties of her job by not constantly supervising the newborns in the ICU unit of the Giulesti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest.
Five babies -- two boys and three girls -- died after suffering severe burns in the fire August 16. Six other newborns were injured, authorities have said. They remained in critical but stable condition Monday, according to staffers at Grigore Alexandru Children's Hospital, where they are being treated. Cirstea is also charged in connection with the injured infants.
She left the unit unattended for 12 minutes, Iacob said, and then was unable to evacuate and rescue the newborns after the fire broke out. Cirstea also left the intensive care unit several other times during that day, according to surveillance video, he said.
Iacob said last week that medical staff at the hospital were in another room, apparently having a celebration, when the blaze broke out. CNN
