Samples of Man Who Jumped Off Safdarjung Hospital Not Tested

The man forced open the isolation ward and jumped off the seventh floor of the building, officials said.

Man suspected of coronavirus jumped off Safdarjung Hospital. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI)

The samples of the suspected coronavirus patient who allegedly killed himself by jumping off the seventh floor of the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, were not collected for testing, a senior health ministry official told PTI on Thursday, 19 March.

The facts in the case are not yet known and an inquiry into the matter has been initiated by the hospital administration, the official said adding that samples of a deceased are not tested.

Earlier, police said that the 25-year-old man suspected to be infected with COVID-19 allegedly killed himself by jumping off the seventh floor of a Safdarjung Hospital building on Wednesday.

The man, who hailed from Balachaur in Punjab, had arrived from Sydney and was brought by the airport authorities as a suspected coronavirus case. He was immediately put in the isolation ward, hospital sources said.

“A suspected COVID-19 patient committed suicide by jumping from the Safdarjung Hospital. The deceased has been identified as Tanveer Singh, he was admitted to hospital today at 9 pm after returning from Sydney, Australia,” said Devender Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West), ANI reported earlier.

‘The Man Complained of a Headache’

The Health Ministry, in a statement, said the man was taken to the hospital after he complained of a headache, according to The Indian Express.

The doctors found the patient missing when they reached the room for evaluation. “At the same time, another doctor coming out of the building observed a body on the floor around 9:15 pm,” the Ministry said in a statement.

He forced open the isolation ward and jumped off the seventh floor of the building, the hospital sources said.

Meanwhile, the doctors at the hospital have advised police personnel to maintain a distance of at least five metres from the body.

The police have taken the necessary precautions and are figuring out the most appropriate way to shift the body to a mortuary, The Indian Express reported, quoting a police officer.

His samples had been taken and sent for testing, they said, adding the reports are awaited.

(With inputs from The Indian Express, ANI & PTI)