Kozhikode (Kerala), May 3: To ascertain the exact cause of deaths, the authorities at Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kerala’s Kozhikode have decided to conduct post-mortem examinations on the bodies of five patients who died in a fire at the hospital’s surgical super-specialty block on May 2 (Friday).
According to reports, the deceased people have been identified as Surendran (59) from Vadakara, Gopalan (65) from West Hill in Kozhikode city, Gangadharan (70) from Koyilandy—all in Kozhikode district—Naseera (44) from Wayanad, and Ganga (34) from West Bengal.
They were reportedly on ventilator support at the time of the fire.
Meanwhile, the police have filed a case under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to investigate the deaths.
At the same time, the Fire and Rescue Services have started looking into what caused the fire in the UPS room of the PMSSY block, a building set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.
It is worth mentioning that the mishap took place at around 8 p.m. when a short circuit in the UPS battery unit caused an explosion and fire on the ground floor of the building, where the casualty ward is located.
Thereafter, smoke quickly spread through the building, and about 200 patients had to be shifted to other wards in the hospital and nearby private hospitals.
Congress MLA from Kalpetta T. Siddique later claimed in a social media post that at least three seriously ill patients, including one from his constituency, died while being evacuated.
However, the hospital authorities denied the allegation. They said that Ganga had died before arriving at the hospital, and the other patients were already in critical condition. One had oral cancer, another had serious liver problems, the third had kidney issues, and the fourth had severe pneumonia.
The decision to do post-mortem examinations on all the bodies was made because the MLA and the families had raised doubts about the cause of death.
