Tunisia’s health minister has resigned after the sudden deaths of 11 newborn babies at a state maternity hospital sparked an outcry in the country, the government said.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed accepted Abderraouf Cherif’s resignation, the premier’s office said on Facebook late on Saturday.

“Those responsible for any negligence will face legal proceedings,” the prime minister said at the maternity hospital in the capital late Saturday, according to a video released by his office.

Leading newspaper Essafa on Sunday cried foul and compared the deaths of the babies to a “state crime”.

A medical association said the sudden deaths could have been caused by a food product that had gone bad. The babies died Thursday and Friday at the Rabta clinic in Tunis, which is part of a large medical centre in the capital.