30 Children Die After Gorakhpur Hospital Runs Out Of Oxygen

At least 30 children died in the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur during the last 48 hours, district magistrate Rajeev Rautela said.

He said 17 children died in the neo-natal ward, 5 in AES (acute encephalitis syndrome) ward and 8 in the general ward.

To a specific question as to whether the deaths occurred due to shortage in supply of oxygen, Rautela said he found out from the doctors that no death occurred due to lack of oxygen.

Hindi daily Hindustan says that the hospital had run out of oxygen due to non-payment of close to Rs 69 lakhs. The supply of liquid oxygen was reportedly over on Thursday and all the cylinders ran out today.

#Visuals: 30 children lost their lives due to encephalitis in last 48 hours at Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das Medical College #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/GZQRbAmfUx — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 11, 2017

Supply of liquid oxygen was disrupted y'day due to pending payment. Requested suppliers not to disrupt supply: #Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 11, 2017

Gorakhpur was the Lok Sabha constituency of current Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

With Agency Inputs

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