Gorakhpur hospital tragedy continues, 6 more children die

Six more children have died from encephalitis since Saturday at state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur where the death of nearly 70 of them, including infants, has set off a nation-wide outrage and political recrimination.

Many of these deaths were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the government.

Even as the authorities grappled with the situation in the aftermath of the tragedy which continued to unfold, additional director health Pushkar Anand said these fresh deaths occurred between August 12 and 14.

“In the past three days -- from August 12 to August 14 -- six encephalitis patients, mostly children have died. In the same period, as many as 21 patients were admitted for treatment. At present nearly 75 encephalitis patients are undergoing treatment in the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital,” he said.

In state capital Lucknow, UP Congress leaders including state party chief Raj Babbar staged a protest over the tragedy and many of them courted arrest. The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and registration of a case of ‘murder’ over the ‘massacre’ of children.

Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, who is in Bengaluru, rejected the demand for Adityanath’s ouster, saying such incidents had also happened in states governed by the Congress.

“It is natural for the Congress to ask for Yogiji’s resignation. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours. Such incidents have taken place during Congress rule in many states,” he told reporters.

Congress, meanwhile claimed it had warned the government about the resource crunch at the hospital.

• Sacked Gorakhpur doctor made scapegoat, say doctors in Delhi

Party vice president Rahul Gandhi had warned about funds to the hospital having been “stopped” in September, 2016, and also visited the encephalitis wing, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission of India has sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government over the tragedy, observing it indicated “gross callousness” on part of the health administration.

The NHRC asked the state’s chief secretary to submit a detailed report in four weeks on steps taken for relief and rehabilitation of the affected families as well as the action taken against those guilty.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav visited Gorakhpur and met family members of deceased infants, consoled them and announced an assistance of Rs two lakh each to the families of the victims.

The former chief minister visited two villages and met three bereaved families.

Moved by the Gorakhpur tragedy, BJP Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi on Monday pledged Rs 5 crore from his MP local area development fund to build a state-of-the-art paediatric wing in Sultanpur district hospital.

“The human tragedy in Gorakhpur has left me jolted,” he said.

Image: Relatives carry a child at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital where over 60 children have died over the past one week in Gorakhpur district. Photograph: PTI Photo