12 newborns, many adults die in Maharashtra hospital in a day
Maharashtra hospital deaths: At least 24 patients, including 12 newborns, died at a state-run hospital in Maharashtra's Nanded in the last 24 hours, according to reports.
The hospital dean has blamed a shortage of medicines and hospital staff, NDTV reported.
Twelve adults died in the last 24 hours as a result of "various ailments, mostly snake bites," the dean of Nanded's Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
"In the last 24 hours, six male and six female babies died. Twelve adults perished as a result of various diseases, mainly snake bites. We had some difficulties because various staff were being transferred," he explained.
"We are supposed to buy medicines from an institute called Haffkine but that also didn't happen. However, we did purchase medicines locally and provide them to patients," the dean further said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expresses grief over the tragic deaths, terming them "unfortunate." More information will be sought about what happened at the hospital and action will be taken, he said to reporters.
The Maharashtra Opposition launched an all-out attack on the Eknath Shinde government, claiming that the "triple-engine sarkar (of the BJP, Eknath Shinde Sena, and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP) should take responsibility."
"A total of 24 lives were lost. Seventy are still critical. There is a lack of medical facilities and staff. Many nurses were transferred and their replacements were not given. Many machines are not working. The hospital's capacity is 500, but 1,200 patients are admitted. I will speak to Ajit Pawar (about this). The government should look into the matter keenly and take control of the situation," former Maharashtra CM and Congress leader Ashok Chavan said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said:
“This is shameful, please don’t call them deaths, this is murder due to absolute negligence on the part of the unconstitutional state government. They are so busy planning influencer events or foreign trips that they have forgotten their basic job is to serve the state."
- With inputs from agencies
