A PREMATURE newborn baby was burned to death in an improvised hospital incubator, and doctors are now being investigated for negligence.

The 15-year-old mother gave birth to the child after just 32 weeks of pregnancy at the Nuestra Senora del Rosario Hospital in Warnes, Bolivia.

3 The premature newborn baby was burned to death in an improvised hospital incubator (not pictured) Credit: Getty - Contributor

According to local media, there were no available incubators at the hospital so staff allegedly improvised with a makeshift one with strong lights, according to the baby’s aunt Scarlett Pasabare.

Meanwhile, the distraught young mum told local media: “As the baby was premature, we were told that it needed an incubator but there were none available. There was not any space in other medical centres either.”

She added: “I saw his little arm was burned and the baby was howling. We were told that the lights had burned him.”

When doctors noticed the injuries, they tried to transfer the newborn to another hospital but it was full.

They sent the baby boy to another medical centre, but the infant had reportedly died by the time doctors attended to him.

The case stunned the local community and highlighted the stark conditions at many of Bolivia’s health centres after President Evo Morales introduced a new universal healthcare model.

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Vice-president of the Santa Cruz Medical College, Wilfredo Anzoategui, said: “These are the conditions we are working under.

"We are forced to take risky decisions all the time, such as this case where a baby’s life was put in danger.”

The local authorities are investigating the hospital for negligence.

3 The baby's relatives are pictured talking to the media Credit: Central European News