A hospital in northwest China's Shaanxi Province is compensating parents of eight newborn babies who died after contracting infections last month, parents and local media said Tuesday.

At least two families received 180,000 yuan (26,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation from the No. 1 hospital affiliated with the medical school of Xi'an Jiaotong University, the Xi'an Evening News reported.

"They've also refunded the 10,000 yuan I paid for the baby's medical costs," said a father who only gave his family name as Ma.

Another father, surnamed Xiao, said he had been compensated the same amount and got a 7,500 yuan refund of medical expenses.

The hospital refused to comment, saying it would give a formal reply to the media at "some other time".

The eight babies died between Sept. 5 and 15 of a hospital-acquired infection. Their deaths were not reported to health authorities until too late.

The deaths triggered widespread anger after being revealed to the public Sept. 25.

Nine hospital officials were fired, including the president and a vice president. Doctors who treated the dead newborns were suspended from work pending investigation.

Health authorities blamed the accident on the hospital's lax management, inefficient execution of regulations and irresponsible medical staff.

The hospital, one of the biggest in northwest China, said on its website it launched a safety overhaul on Sept. 27.

(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2008)