New Delhi: Eleven COVID-19 patients died due to a problem in oxygen supply inside the ICU in the government-run Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati late on Monday night, Chittoor district collector M. Hari Narayanan said.
There was a five-minute lag in reloading the oxygen cylinder that caused the pressure to drop, resulting in the deaths, he said. “The oxygen supply was restored within five minutes and everything is now normal. Because of this we could prevent more casualties,” Hari Narayanan added. According to him, the delay in the arrival of an oxygen tanker from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu triggered the crisis.
Families, however, said oxygen supply was disrupted for 25 to 45 minutes, NDTV reported.
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About 30 doctors were immediately rushed into the ICU to attend to the patients.
The collector said there was no scarcity of oxygen in the hospital and adequate supply was in place.
In all, about 700 COVID-19 patients were undergoing treatment in the ICU and oxygen beds in Ruia while another 300 were in normal wards.
Chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed grief over the incident. He spoke to the district collector and directed that a detailed investigation be conducted into the incident. Jagan also directed the officials to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
(With PTI inputs)