Karnataka: 23 Covid patients die due to lack of oxygen in Chamarajanagar district hospital

MYSURU: As many as 23 patients died early Monday morning in the Chamarajanagar district hospital, about 175km from Bengaluru, after the oxygen supply dipped dramatically. In a private hospital in Kollegal, another man died due to the same problem.
The situation started unravelling at the district hospital around 8pm Sunday when oxygen stocks started to wear thin and supplies did not reach the town from Mysuru.Breathless patients called their relatives who scrambled to assist them, but with little success.

When Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner MR Ravi rushed to the hospital by 10.30pm, their oxygen saturation levels had plummeted to dangerous levels. Though the supply was restored by 2.30am, it had claimed many lives. “The stock is expected to last for the next two days,’’ a source said.
A pall of gloom descended on the hospital as grieving kin of the dead between 25 and 50 years gathered near the hospital and protested, alleging negligence by hospital authorities. While one of the victims is a treasury official, the rest are farmers and most had been admitted to the hospital a few days ago.
State education minister Suresh Kumar and health minister K Sudhakar rushed to the town to take stock of the situation.