Bhubaneswar, Jan7: Identification of two out of the three victims, killed in the Hi-Tech Hospital fire mishap on December 29, is yet in darkness.
At a time when the family members of two deceased who died a few days after the fire mishap are jumbled up regarding their kith and kin’s identification, the underlying cause behind the matter has been so far fuzzy for the denizens.
The matter has also been a crossword puzzle for the Commissionerate Police as the sleuths are yet to ascertain the details about the casualties and even the deceased persons owing to the incident.
The Hi-Tech Hospital authorities’ hedgy and light statements on the matter have also put the police in trouble to pertinently find out who the victims are, what their association with the healthcare institution was, and what operations were going on the very day on the spot, that charred three youths to death and left another youth critically burnt.
Apart from this, the Commissionerate Police is investigating the cause of the accident to verify whether the incident was triggered from Oxygen plant or in fact from an air-conditioner, during its routine maintenance.
Sources said, the mishap took place on December 29 when the AC compressor on the top floor of medical college & hospital exploded while four workers were reportedly filling cooling gas. Subsequently, it triggered a violent fire on the top floor causing burn injuries to as many as four electricians. The injured ones were rushed to the hospital bed for treatment and put on ventilators.
During treatment, one of them identified by the Hospital authorities as Dillip Samantray, succumbed on December 31 while a youth, identified as Sritam Sahu (23) of Chainpur village in Delang area of Puri district, succumbed to major burn injuries on January 2. Another victim, said to be Jyoti Ranjan Mallik by the treating doctors, was put out of the ICU, as he was found doing well. One Simachal, as on medical records, was under intensive care as he had sustained severe burn injuries in his body. However, during a psychometric evaluation it was revealed that the man who was under medical supervision was not really Jyoti, he was Dillip Samantray. However, who proclaimed himself as Dillip Samantray before his dying declaration, died all of sudden on January 6. In a tragic fallout,Dillip’s wife had committed suicide over his death news, intimated from the hospital earlier.
Following the identification goof up, family members of Dillip and Jyoti wreaked havoc in the hospital premises demanding a probe into the matter. At the same time, heirs of both of the deceased agitated before the administrative building for the disputed body and a sizeable sum of ex-gratia to them.
Based on the complaints of the hospital authorities and the claims of the victim’s family members, the police have decided to handover the body to the righteous claimant after the DNA test of the body is conducted.
Further investigation into the matter is underway. Stern action will be taken against the hospital if negligence in treatment to the injured ones or breach of standard operation procedures is proved, said ADCP PK Pal.