Hathras stampede: Deaths, injuries overwhelm health centre
Hathras stampede: Senior medical officer Dr Sandeep Pal said the staff were unprepared for this scale of the disaster
HATHRAS: A modest 30-bedded health facility that became the first port of call to a mass carnage in Sikandra Rao town of Hathras on Tuesday crumbled under the deluge of dead bodies coming into the hospital by the minute.
Known for providing immediate relief to the local community, the staffers at the centre faced an unimaginable crisis when casualties and injured people from a stampede at a religious event, just about four kilometres away in Phulrai Mughal Garhi village, started pouring in, pushing the centre beyond its breaking point.
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The day began like any other at Sikandra Rao Trauma Centre. Dr RK Verma, the medical superintendent, made his rounds, checking on patients recovering from illnesses and injuries. The facility, though small, is the lifeline for the town’s 20,000 residents, offering critical healthcare services in an area with few alternatives.
Around 3 pm, two young men arrived at the centre with three dead bodies of boys, aged no more than 12. “The men came to the emergency ward and said a big incident has happened. We thought of first checking with the local police officer, as the two men carrying bodies of three kids seemed suspicious. As I dialled the local police station, I was told to ‘brace for more’, as the officer on the other end told me about the tragedy,” said Dr Manoj Katara, who was the doctor on-call at the emergency ward.
According to Verma, when the bodies started coming in, there were six doctors on duty at the centre, including senior medical officer and two superintendents, along with 15 nursing staff.
“As we got to terms with the gravity of the tragedy, all the medical staff who were off duty at the time were immediately called to service. By 4 pm, the total staff at the centre was of 60 people, including senior doctors from additional community health centre in Aligarh as well as the paramedical staff,” said Verma.
Within an hour, at least 30 ambulances, private vehicles, and even carts began arriving at the health centre, carrying the injured and the dead. The small parking lot quickly filled, and the area around the health centre became a scene of frantic activity and desperate cries for help.
Senior medical officer Dr Sandeep Pal said even with as many people, the staff were unprepared for this scale of the disaster.
“One by one, at least 89 bodies came in, and around 40 people injured were admitted here. The 30 beds were quickly occupied by the severely injured. The hallways, waiting areas, and even the courtyard was filled with makeshift beds. Each of the 30 beds were equipped with oxygen concentrators and those who required it was provided the same,” said Pal.
Verma and his team of doctors and nurses worked around the clock, trying to triage and provide care to the injured. However, all of it was not enough.
Roshni, 17, had called her mother around 4 pm on Tuesday from the Sikandra Rao trauma centre telling her she was okay.
“My daughter and I had got separated in the stampede after which I was taken to Hathras hospital, as I lay unconscious at the satsang site. As I reached there, my daughter called on my phone saying she is at the Sikandra Rao trauma centre. I asked my husband to immediately go there and check on her. But by the time he reached, our daughter had passed away,” said Kamla Devi, Roshni’s mother and a resident of Belsi, Badaun.
Roshni’s father Kailash Chand recalled, “As I reached the trauma centre, I started looking for my daughter in the women’s ward. A nurse asked me to show her my daughter’s photograph, and then took me to the room where the bodies were kept, and so was my daughter’s remains.”
He further alleged, “The doctors did not pay attention to my daughter, because of which this happened. If they had taken care of her, she would not have died.”
The doctors at the trauma centre, however, maintained there was not a single person who came to the centre alive and later died.
“Among all the people that were brought here, only 40 were breathing, who were treated, while 89 others were brought dead. We checked each of them for their pulse,” Verma said, adding the hospital is equipped with an oxygen plant that provides 250 litres per minute oxygen to each of the 30 beds at the facility.
The biggest task for the doctors was to check and declare death of the patients. “We had never worked with these many bodies before. We were going around with stethoscopes, checking the pulse of the people lying across the centre, and noting their deaths. We were also worried that if we make an error, what if the person we have announced as dead comes into consciousness,” said Pal.
“It was chaos,” said nurse Priya. “So many people needed urgent care... We did what we could, but it felt like an impossible task.”
As resources were limited, doctors were quick to refer the injured to other hospitals. “Out of the 40 injured, 17 people were referred to the Hathras district hospital and seven to the Aligarh district hospital. By night, as the injured felt better, 16 people were discharged from the centre,” said Verma.
As the day wore on, the influx of bodies overwhelmed the centre’s capacity. The bodies were shifted to the mortuaries at bigger hospitals, including Hathras district hospital, Aligarh district hospital and Etah district hospital.