Anand Puri, who was critical after sustaining burn injuries in the cylinder blast at Worli BDD Chawl on November 30, succumbed to injuries at BYL Nair Hospital on Saturday, taking the death toll in the fire tragedy to two. Puri’s four-month-old son Mangesh had succumbed to burns on December 1.
A gas cylinder had exploded at the family’s residence at the chawl, with the family of four sustaining burn injuries. Puri’s wife Vidya, 25, and their five-year-old son Vishnu are in a stable condition and have been shifted to Kasturba Hospital.
According to the doctors, Vidya has 50-60 per cent burns, while Vishnu has 15-20 per cent burns. On Friday, the cylinder blast incident had rocked the civic standing committee meeting where all party corporators unanimously condemned the incident and blamed Nair Hospital staff for negligence and insensitivity after allegedly delaying treatment to the family.
A video showing Anand Puri and his family crying in pain and lying unattended in a room as the medical staff sat a few feet away had gone viral on social media. On Friday, the BMC suspended three staff members of the hospital, including a doctor, nurse and an intern doctor. The BMC has also set up a three-member committee to inquire into the allegations of negligence by the hospital staff while treating the infant. Congress group leader in the BMC, Ravi Raja told The Free Press Journal, “It is an unfortunate incident.
As we know, Anand Puri had sustained 80 per cent burn injuries and chances of his survival were minimal. Hence, he needed immediate treatment after admission, but the doctor did not pay attention to him. Now, his death shows that there was negligence on part of the doctor.”
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