Bhopal: Drop in pressure in the oxygen supply at the special care unit of a government-run Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur in Chhattisgarh allegedly led to the death of three infants late on Sunday night.
Chhattisgarh is the third BJP-ruled state after Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to have witnessed such an incident in the past few months.
While 70 people including 36 kids died due to alleged lack of oxygen supply in the emergency ward of BRD hospital in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh recently, seven children died due to reported disruption in oxygen supply at a government hospital in Indore six months ago.
Authorities in the Chhattisgarh government’s health department, however, claimed that the three infants, who were on ventilators in the emergency ward, died of serious ailments and not due to want of oxygen.
“The three deaths occurred at 12.30 am, 1.30 am and 10 am on Sunday. The health condition of the three was serious at the time of admission. One of them was low birth weight newborn, while another was suffering from heart ailments. They died due to their ailments and not due to lack of oxygen,” principal secretary of health department of the government, Subrat Sahu, said.
Hospital sources said that doctors on duty in the special care unit on Sunday evening noticed discomfort among patients who were on ventilators and suspected disruption in oxygen supply as the cause. They said they brought it to the notice of the authorities.
It was found that the oxygen plant operator, Rabi Chandra, was drunk and failed to ensure constant supply of oxygen. He was arrested and the later released on bail.
