Mumbai shocker: Man dies after inhaling toxic fumes, body kept in mortuary rots
The family members of a man who died after inhaling toxic fumes have alleged that the staff at the Navghar Primary Health Centre in Vasai, Mumbai did not provide them with a freezer to store the body. They said that when they reached the hospital at 10 pm, there was no doctor or staff to help them keep the body inside a freezer. No doctor was there to conduct post mortem,. they added. The body had to be left in the mortuary and remained there for 21 hours, they said.
New Delhi: In a shocking incident reported from Mumbai, the body of a 59-year-old man was found decomposed inside the mortuary of a government hospital in Vasai area. The incident has left many wondering about the poor condition of government hospitals in Mumbai. The man, identified as Dev Pardiwala, died after inhaling toxic fumes.
Man's body not kept in mortuary freezer, alleges family
According to the family members of the deceased, the man died after inhaling toxix chlorine gas. The gas was reportedly leaking from an abandoned gas cylinder kept near his home, the Rashmi Plaza in Vasai.
The man collapsed while trying to escape his apartment which was filled with the smell of the toxic gas, said family members. After he collapsed, the family took him to a private hospital. He was declared dead by the doctors there and the family was advised to take the body to a government facility for a post mortem.
The family then approached the Navghar Primary Health Centre for a post mortem. They reportedly reached the health care facility at 10 pm and were told that there was no doctor available to conduct the post mortem. The private ambulance driver somehow managed to get the keys to the mortuary, but there was no staff there to help the family place the body in a freezer.
The family members then decided to leave the dead body on a raised platform in the mortuary and left the place after locking the mortuary door. When they returned the next morning, they found that the body of Pardiwala was still lying there and was completely bloated. The body lay outside for close to 21 hours and was emitting a foul odour, claimed the family.
The hospital authorities then informed the family that the post mortem could be done at JJ Hospital, as there were no facilities available at the PHC for the same. Till 1:30 pm on Tuesday, the family was trying to arrange for an ambulance, trying to cut down the smell of the body using deodorants.
Family members cried that had the hospital authorities told them last night itself that the post mortem would be done at JJ Hospital, they would not have left the body there. They alleged that this was a clear case of negligence and undignified treatment of the dead.
Defending the hospital and the negligence, Navghar PHC in-charge Dr Supriya Shinde was quoted by Mumbai Mirror as saying that they had informed the family members about all freezers used to store bodies at the health care centre, being full. She said that despite this the family chose to leave the body at the mortuary and kept it on a raised platform and left.