Cairo: Egyptian authorities ordered Tuesday an urgent inquiry after four babies died allegedly of a tainted anti-dehydration solution in a southern province.

The deaths occurred in the province of Beni Sueif where also 27 babies developed intestinal problems after reportedly getting the solution at government-run hospitals there.

Chief of the Administrative Prosecution, Sameh Kamal, ordered the investigation as the Health Ministry closed the factory that produced the suspected medication.

The ministry also recalled packets of the solution from other parts of the country.

The victims, aged four to 12 months, were admitted into hospitals with diarrhea. After they were given syringes containing the solution they suffered from seizures, vomiting and high temperatures, according to their families.

“I took my baby to the hospital to treat her for diarrhea and nausea,” said Ahlam Salama, a mother of a nine-month-girl. “The doctor there prescribed syringes for her. But soon her temperatures soared and her body became blue. Then she lost consciousness,” the mother told independent newspaper Al Shorouk. Her child died later.

However, Alaa Ezzat, a senior health official in Beni Sueif, around 125 kilometres south of Cairo south of Cairo denied that the four deaths were due to the solution. “They died after suffering an acute intestinal disorder,” he was quoted as saying in the local media on Tuesday.

The majority of Egypt’s 87 million people, who cannot afford high bills of private medical centres, usually turn to government-run hospitals where they complain about substandard services.

State-employed medical professionals say they are underpaid and work under unfavourable conditions.

Healthcare allocations in Egypt’s public budget for the new fiscal year, which began on July 1, amount to 64 billion Egyptian pounds (around Dh 32 billion), an increase of 22 billion against those of last year.

The government of President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi says it is working hard for upgrading the state healthcare system and giving the poor an access to medical insurance as part of an efficient social safety net.