Docs Hide as 6 COVID Patients Die at Hospital Amid Oxygen Shortage

The hospital said that the doctors had not left the building but were “hiding in the canteen” from fear of attack.

Some hospitals have received oxygen minutes before it ran out, but others have not been as fortunate. One such incident is from 30 April, where six patients lost their lives due to oxygen shortage in Kriti hospital, in Gurugram.   

(PC: Videograb/Accessed by The Quint)   

Video Producer: Mayank Chawla
Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia

Videos that have emerged from a hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram show kin of COVID patients admitted in the institution entering to find no doctors on duty, as well as no other staff. The doors to the ICU also appear to be locked and on entering, family members find the deceased bodies of their family members.

The videos date back to 30 April, on a day when six COVID patients died at Gurugram’s Kriti Hospital, allegedly from oxygen shortage.

Family members can be seen devastated, running around wards, not seeing a single staff member, or doctor, or chemist or guard. They can also be seen complaining that doctors have gone missing from the hospital, leaving multiple patients unattended in the ICU.

Later, family members can also be seen arguing with the police about the incident, questioning them about the absence of doctors.

‘Hiding Out of Fear of Attack’

However, the hospital administration said that the doctors had not left the building but were “hiding in the canteen.”

A senior doctor from the hospital, who refused to be named, told The Quint that the doctors did not escape the hospital but hid inside the canteen because attendants of the patients started assaulting them.

“We raised multiple SOS calls regarding oxygen shortage but received no help from the administration. Attendants were asked to move patients to other hospitals. Later that day we lost six patients after which some attendants started assaulting the medical staff including doctors and we had hide to save our lives.”   

Senior Doctor at Kriti Hospital   

Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, Hospital Director Swati Rathore said that the hospital had been about to run out of oxygen at 2 pm the same day and had informed government officials. They also informed relatives of the patients to shift them to other medical institutions due to the impending shortage.

"But no help came and there were six casualties around 11 pm," Dr Rathore told NDTV.

Dr Rathore further added that she had asked the doctors to hide in light of an incident that took place six days previously when they had come under attack from attendants of other patients. The hospital had also registered an FIR over the incident, she said.

Probe Underway Into Incident

The Quint also reached out to police officials, who said that relatives of some patients attacked doctors on duty after the deaths occurred.

“We were informed that some relatives of patients at the hospital attacked doctors on duty after the death of six people. No complaint was registered, and doctors resumed their duty soon after.”   

Inspector Pawan Malik   

Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg has since ordered a probe into the incident, as per The Times of India.

The hospital is a 40-bed facility, but has not been officially designated a COVID treatment centre by the Haryana government.

Many major hospitals throughout the country have put out frequent SOS calls every few hours asking for oxygen supply. Some hospitals have received oxygen minutes before it ran out, but others have not been as fortunate.

Even as foreign emergency supplies of oxygen concentrators and medicines are reaching India to supplement the dire shortage of facilities in the country, the COVID surge has resulted in a complete healthcare collapse.

(With inputs from NDTV.)