Gorakhpur: Congress delegation visits tragedy-struck BRD Medical College

A Congress delegation comprising senior leaders on 12 August visited the tragedy-struck Baba Raghav Das Medical College's hospital, which has till now claimed 63 lives due to alleged shortage of oxygen.

The delegation comprising senior Congress leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Raj Babbar, Pramod Tiwari, RPN Singh along with others, met the doctors and patients.

As many as 63 lives have been lost till now due to alleged disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen in the hospital.

Earlier in the day, the alleged disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen at the hospital claimed lives of two more children.

The shortage of oxygen allegedly led to encephalitis, which is a sudden onset inflammation of the brain, following which the children died.

On Friday, it was reported that as many as 30 children lost their lives due to encephalitis in a span of 48 hours at the hospital.

Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela said that the cause of the deaths at the BRD Hospital was the disruption in the supply of liquid oxygen and has further appealed to the suppliers to not cut the supply henceforth.

Following this reports, the Uttar Pradesh Government jumped in defence of the medical college, while also assuring that the District Magistrate has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the report will be out in 24 hours.

"The District Magistrate has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The report will be out in 24 hours," he added.

He further said that the arrangement of oxygen cylinders was duly made and a strict action will be taken against those responsible for the mishap.

Meanwhile, according to data procured from the BRD hospital, in past five days - from  7 August to 11 August, a total of 60 deaths have occurred in the hospital.

The procured data also shows the number of oxygen cylinders sent for refilling each day, showing a clear shortage of liquid oxygen in the hospital.

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi expressed his outrage saying it was not a tragedy but a clear case of massacre.

Taking to Twitter, Satyarthi tore into the Uttar Pradesh government asking "is this what 70 years of freedom means for our children?" 

-ANI