British nurse Beverley Allitt was jailed for the murder of four babies in her care

Some of the deaths were said to have occurred in a children's ward and a prison infirmary, but the prosecutors' statement gave no indication of the illnesses suffered by the victims.

Babies less than a year old and patients as old as 91 were among the victims, prosecutors said.

The nurse, whose name has not been released, is also charged with four attempted murders and forging school certificates to enable her to qualify for medical training.

She was suspended from her last job at a hospital in The Hague in 2001 following the death of a baby. She has since been sacked.

According to the Associated Press news agency, the woman is a former resident of Winnipeg, Canada, who is obsessed with death and has attempted suicide seven times in the past decade.

The bodies of three children she allegedly killed were disinterred for examination in March, according to the news agency.