At least 64 children have died in the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, the parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in the last five days. The deaths have been blamed on the spread of encephalitis and a shortage of oxygen supply.
While CM Adityanath has said that not all deaths were caused due to a cut in the oxygen supply, the parents of the deceased children have said that hospital authorities had asked them to hand pump Ambu bags for hours.
Umesh, from Baraipur area of Gorakhpur, rushed in his sick niece Vandana to the medical college on 10 August. When the doctors finally started treating the 12-year-old, they asked Umesh to hand pump an Ambu bag. Umesh wasn’t told about the shortage of oxygen; Neither was he informed that the ambu bag could help his niece breathe.
He tirelessly hand pumped the bag for two to three hours, before pausing to step out of the hospital to purchase medicines for her. That was the last time he would see his niece alive.
Umesh and his family have demanded to know why the government-run hospital failed to warn them about the oxygen shortage so they could take the girl to another hospital for treatment.
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
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