 |
More
than 30 children have died at a government-run hospital in northern India over
48 hours, police said, allegedly due to lack of oxygen supply to the wards
housing the sick
|
More than 30 children
have died at a government-run hospital in northern India over 48 hours, police
said Friday, allegedly due to lack of oxygen supply to the wards housing the
sick.
AFP
report continues:
The
children were admitted at the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in Gorakhpur district of
northern Uttar Pradesh, India's most populated state ruled by the right-wing
Bharatiya Janata Party.
"The
hospital has said that 23 children died on Thursday and 11 Friday. At the moment
we only have this information," senior police superintendent Satyarth
Aniruddha Pankaj told AFP by phone.
"The
matter is being investigated."
Multiple
local media reports said the children died after the company which was
supplying oxygen stopped the service, apparently over non-payment of dues
running into millions of rupees.
City
magistrate V K Srivastava however denied the allegations and said the hospital
had enough oxygen cylinders in stock.
"The
deaths were not due to lack of oxygen as is being reported. The supply was
stopped yesterday (Thursday) but the hospital has enough cylinders in
stock," he told AFP.
"Many
acute cases are referred to the hospital and on an average 10-11 kids die
daily. A team has been set up to look into the matter."
State-run
hospitals in India are often stretched to breaking point, with patients facing
long delays for even minor treatment and forced to share beds.
As
a result, Indians avoid the state-run system if they can, with many flocking to
private clinics and hospitals.
But a consultation with a private GP can cost 1,000 rupees (US$15), a huge sum for millions living on less than US$2 a day.
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