Over 300 children have died in Gorakhpur hospital

Gorakhpur/Allahabad (UP), Aug. 31: Former principal of BRD Medical College Rajiv Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla were on Thursday sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court in connection with the deaths of scores of children in the staterun facility. Meanwhile, 13 more children died at the hospital yesterday, taking the toll so far this month to 309, said newlyappointed principal of the college Dr P.K. Singh.

He said that since flood waters were receding, chances of infection were high. With these deaths, the toll has reached 1,269 so far this year. “On August 30 till midnight as many as 59 children were admitted. Of them, 13 died. As of now, there are 354 children undergoing treatment,” Singh said.

In a related development, the Allahabad high court on Thursday sought a “detailed report” on the infrastructure and medical facilities at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.B. Bhosle and Justice M. K. Gupta directed the secretary of the state Legal Services Authority to personally visit the medical college hospital and file a report along with photographs of various wards. Earlier in the day, the doctor couple, arrested on Tuesday by Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force (STF), was produced before the court of additional sessions judge Shivanand Singh, who sent them to the Gorakhpur district jail on a 14-day judicial remand. They were named in an FIR lodged by the UP government.

The two were brought to the court here amid tight security. Mishra was suspended as principal of the medical college on August 12 after the deaths were reported. He resigned the same day own. The doctor couple were booked based on report submitted to Uttar Pradesh chief minister .