At least 11 patients at the oxygen beds of SVR Ruia Government Hospital, Tirupati breathed their last when the oxygen supply was disrupted for five minutes. This tragic incident occurred around 8 pm on Monday night.
According to Chittoor collector Hari Narayanan, the arrival of the oxygen tanker from Sri Perambur of Tamil Nadu was delayed for a few minutes and in the meanwhile, bulk oxygen cylinders were used to save the lives of the COVID patients.
"The oxygen was reloaded in the oxygen plant within five minutes of its obstruction, else, many more patients would lose their lives. A total of 30 doctors rushed to the ICU wards to discharge their duties. The situation is now normal with an adequate oxygen supply to the patients and another tanker is expected to arrive on Tuesday morining," the collector informed the scribes.
Though the collector said 11 fatalities were reported, the death toll might have been increased to even 25, an unofficial report divulges. There was a lot of hue and cry from the kin of the deceased and they expressed their anguish violently breaking the window panes and throwing off the medicines.
In the meanwhile, the CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered the officials to probe on the tragedy. Further, he directed the officials to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen to the needy patients in all the hospitals across the state.