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At least five Covid-19 patients died in Satkhira Medical College Hospital after a disruption to their oxygen supply on Wednesday night.
The patients died in just 25 minutes, between 7:30pm and 7:55pm.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. Hospital officials said the vendor failed to deliver the oxygen needed by the hospital on time, causing a dip in the gas pressure in the tank in the evening.
But an official of the vendor company, Spectra Oxygen Ltd, said the delay was caused at Benapole Port through which oxygen is imported to Bangladesh from India.
Contacted, Milton Hossain, Jashore depo manager of Spectra Oxygen Ltd, said, “We were informed [that oxygen was needed] at 10:00am. We thought we would be able to deliver oxygen by noon. But, we could not. There was a delay at the port while releasing the oxygen imported from India.”
Taj Muhammad Khan, whose father Akram Hossain Khan, 60, was among the dead, said, “After the oxygen supply got interrupted in the evening, he died as he was out of breath at the ICU.”
Officials said the hospital has a 20,000 litre oxygen reservoir. The hospital needs around 6,000 litres a day on an average.
Spectra Oxygen Ltd failed to refill the reservoir timely on Wednesday, causing the reserve to come down to 2,400 litre in the morning.
“We informed the supplier in the morning. But they could not refill it on time. We got the supply at night,” Mizanur Rahman, junior technician of the oxygen plant at the hospital, told The Daily Star yesterday.
When the oxygen supply got interrupted, the hospital authority added 30 cylinders to the supply line.
Panic gripped patients and their attendants, witnesses said.
The central oxygen tank was refilled around 8:00pm, according to the officials.
Dr Kudrat-E-Khuda, supervisor of the hospitals, said, “As soon as the oxygen flow reduced, we added the necessary oxygen cylinders to keep the supply uninterrupted. Three patients who were in critical condition died at that time.”
Dr Hussain Safayat, civil surgeon of Satkhira, said, “Oxygen pressure went down a bit for a while. Everything was fixed within 15-20 minutes. But it cannot be the reason behind the death of the patients.”
A total of 14 Covid-19 patients died in Satkhira Medical College Hospital on Wednesday.
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