Chennai, Nov 18 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam Tuesday said the government had taken a number of measures, including sending a medical team led by a senior official, to monitor the health of newly born children in Dharmapuri district.

In a statement issued here, Panneerselvam said the death of 11 children between Nov 14-18 was due to various natural reasons and not due to lack of medical care.

Dharmapuri is around 300 km from here.

Panneerselvam said a medical team was sent to Government Medical College Hospital, Dharmapuri, Nov 14 on hearing of the death of five children.

According to the report submitted by the team there is no lack of medical facilities in the hospital, Panneerselvam said.

He said that out of the 11 babies who died, seven weighed less than two-and-a-half kilos of which five babies weighed between 1.2-1.7 kgs only.

As to the cause of death Panneerselvam said it could be due to the young age of the mothers; the short time gap between the previous and the current birth and low weight of the babies at the time of birth.