Three COVID -19 patients died on Sunday, 9 May due to oxygen shortage at Hyderabad’s King Koti hospital.
The incident, that took place between 4 pm and 5 pm on Sunday was due to a delay in the arrival of an oxygen tanker, The News Minute reported.
Superintendent of the King Koti hospital, Dr Rajendranath confirmed the deaths.
The tanker carrying oxygen arrived late at the hospital. In the meantime, we provided oxygen from the buffer stock. When the filling of oxygen was happening for around 30 minutes, the flow of oxygen reduced. Three patients in the ICU died during this period. The deaths may not be totally due to the gap of oxygen supply.Dr Rajendranath
Tanker Goes Missing
The hospital was reportedly facing oxygen shortage from late Sunday afternoon. According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, the oxygen tank at the hospital began showing low pressure from 3 pm.
An oxygen tanker truck that was to arrive by then to refill the hospital’s tank was delayed as the driver who was coming from Jadcherla, took the tank to Osmania Hospital, due to some confusion, The New Indian Express reported.
Even as the hospital was waiting for an oxygen tanker, attendants of several patients rushed to get oxygen cylinders in autos and two-wheelers to save the lives of their family members. However, as they were searching for cylinders at the last minute, most could not get them on time.
More Deaths Than Reported?
Later, as panic spread over the non-arrival of tanker, the Narayanguda police is said to have intervened, traced the truck and guided it to the hospital. Narayanguda inspector told the Deccan Chronicle that the truck arrived at the hospital at around 3.30 pm.
However, by then due to a drop in the pressure of oxygen three people had already died.
While officials say that only three deaths took place due to oxygen shortage, some hospital staff told the publication that seven people – four from ICU A ward, two in ICU B ward and one from male isolation ward succumbed due to shortage of the life-saving gas.
Opposition Cries Foul
Relatives of COVID-19 patients too had alleged that more than three patients died, the same day.
Condemning the incident, K Krishna Sagar Rao, Chief Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said,
“CM K Chandrashekar Rao-led state government’s senior officials are busy taking photographs with oxygen tankers, air force planes and circulating them on social media. COVID-19 patients in the state are dying due to criminal negligence and utter incompetence of these officers.”K Krishna Sagar Rao, Bharatiya Janata Party
The Government District Hospital at King Koti is a dedicated COVID-19 facility, that has around 300 oxygen beds and 50 ICU beds.
In the past few weeks, several incidents of COVID-19 patients dying due to oxygen shortage have been reported, at multiple places across the country. Recently, 13 people died at a government hospital in Tami Nadu’s Chengalpattu allegedly due to oxygen shortage.
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