TUNIS, Tunisia — The Tunisian government fired 13 health officials after 15 infants died earlier this month at a state-owned hospital. A Ministry of Health investigative committee determined the babies died of complications from sepsis and blamed human error for bacteria being introduced during formula preparation or storage in the obstetrics department at Rabta Hospital.

Even as the ministry promised improvements, dozens of Tunisians and civil society activists protested March 12 in front of the government palace in Tunis, blaming officials for the deaths and seeking an accounting for the country's collapsing health system.

The protesters clashed with a security force that prevented them from nearing the palace. They raised cardboard boxes in a symbolic message to the Ministry of Health. The bodies of the infants had been handed over to their families in cardboard boxes, a move that angered the public.

Minister of Health Raouf al-Sherif resigned March 9 in an attempt to buffer people’s anger, while Prime Minister Youssef Chahed decided to dismiss 13 other officials, including three directors-general: Nabiha al-Boursali of the Health Ministry, Hayat al-Thabet of the hospital's obstetrics department, and Sanda al-Bahri of the National Drug Control Laboratory.