Maharashtra: 24 killed in Nashik oxygen leak; CM Uddhav Thackeray orders enquiry

The medical oxygen gas leak at Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik disrupted the supply to COVID19 patients and claimed the lives of 24 people on WednesdayThe incident triggered panic among the relatives of 157 hospitalised patients Soon after videos surfaced on social media platforms showing the massive leakage and weeping relatives The hospital staff and relatives were also seen trying to revive a patient after the oxygen supply was cut offA COVID19 patientrsquos family member reacts after getting the news of medical oxygen gas leakage in Nashik on Wednesday PicPTIAccording to the Nashik Municipal Corporationrsquos statement the incident took place at around 1230 pm and the supply was restored between 145 pm to 2 pm The tanker was placed on the hospital premises on March 31 due to the rising COVID19 cases It was rented for 10 years from a private firm Taiyo Nippon which supplies liquid oxygen and maintenance tooldquoThe cork of the oxygen tank placed at the hospital got damaged on Wednesday morning disrupting the supply due to which the oxygen pressure dipped This led to the deaths of critically ill patients The oxygen supply was restored after a while but by then 22 people including 12 men and 10 women had diedrdquo said Suraj Mandhare Nashik collector Two more died later in the day The 22 patients who died initially were aged between 33 and 76Nashik Commissioner of Police Deepak Pandey however told ANI that the leakage happened at the time of refillingPolice sources had also told miday that only 3000 litres of oxygen was left in the tank which has the capacity of 13 kilolitres and the company had sent men to refill it on Wednesday The tank has to be examined before refilling and while doing so the pharmacist found a leakage in the pipe However by the time he alerted the hospital it was too late and the entire area was filled with white fumes Fire brigade vehicles rushed to the hospital and sprayed water on the tank to contain the leakRelatives and hospital staff try to revive a COVID19 patient after medical oxygen gas leak incident at Zakir Hussain Municipal HospitalCabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal who hails from Nashik visited the hospital and said the chief minister has ordered a highlevel enquiry into the incidentldquoThe hospital comes under the Nashik Municipal Corporation There were around 157 patients at the time of the incident While 131 patients were on oxygen 15 were on ventilator support and 63 were in critical condition The deceased were among patients in critical condition and on ventilator supportrdquo Bhujbal told the press outside the hospitalldquoThe interrupted supply of oxygen could be linked to the deaths of the patients An enquiry is underwayrdquo said state health minister Rajesh Tope The Chief Ministerrsquos Office announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceasedMeanwhile police have registered an accidental death report and are investigating the incidentPrime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims ldquoThe tragedy at a hospital in Nashik because of oxygen tank leakage is heartwrenching Anguished by the loss of lives due to it Condolences to the bereaved families in this sad hourrdquo