34 more children die in 48 hours at BRD hospital in Gorakhpur

Thirty-four children died at the BRD Medical College on Monday and Tuesday, official records of the hospital said. The high number of deaths showed that the situation continued to be very alarming nearly a week after over 30 children died at the same hospital on August 10 and 11.

Twenty-four deaths took place on Monday alone, medical college principal PK Singh said. Monday’s deaths included 15 in the neonatal ward (NICU), five in the acute encephalitis syndrome and four in other wards.

The 10 deaths on Tuesday were mentioned in the hospital’s official records. Out of them, seven were reported from NICU and three from AES ward. The official records for deaths that took place on Wednesday were not available. The hospital releases the figures a day after the deaths.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited the hospital on Sunday and promised to take action against those found guilty of the August 10-11 tragedy.

Asked about a confidential report submitted by district magistrate Rajeev Rautela to the state government, medical college principal PK Singh said he had no information about it and he was asked only to send data of deaths

Asked why deaths were not checked, despite high-profile visits by the chief minister and the health minister, he said: “See, this area is severely affected by brain fever (encephalitis). Most of the children who die are among those brought here in an extremely critical condition. They include newborn babies too.”

The principal ducked queries about Dr Kafeel Khan, who was initially hailed as a hero for having purportedly arranged oxygen cylinders with his own money in the crisis, but later he was removed from his position on the charge of dereliction of duty and private practice during the chief minister’s visit.