Hyderabad: As many as 21 patients died here at the state-run Gandhi Hospital reportedly due to power cuts.
According to a report, Professor CV Chalam, the superintendent in charge of Gandhi Hospital, was quoted as saying that each of the 21 deaths would have to be probed to determine if any of them was directly or indirectly linked to the blackout.
Some of the deaths on Friday were of patients who were on life support system, such as ventilators and incubators in the neo-natal ward. Shockingly, a senior doctor said he used his mobile phone torch to carry out an emergency surgery on a 28-year old man with an infected intestine.
Ambu-bags providing hand-pressed oxygen were used on all patients who were on ventilators. But the report said it was possible that some of the attendants may have administered the gas incorrectly. This task is usually done by hospital staff, but was left to attendants, reported Deccan Chronicle.
The Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Chairman and Managing Director G Raghuma Reddy said the power supply in Gandhi Hospital was affected due to an internal problem in the electrical room of the hospital.
