Bodies of mother, child flown back to UAE sans postmortem
6-member UAE team of medical, forensic and police experts here to assist probe cause of deaths
Emirati citizen, Mohammed Ali Al Mazrouei will wake up shortly from a hospital bed, only to be given the horrific news that his young wife and child had died for still to be determined reasons, while being treated at a private hospital in Wattala, in a bizarre case that began from a hotel room in JaelaSeeduwa early Tuesday.
It all began at the Ramada Hotel, Seeduwa, where the young family from Wadi Kope Valley in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had checked in during the early hours of Tuesday, shortly after landing at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on a scheduled Etihad flight from Dubai.
Three hours later, the family fell ill and hotel staff rushed them to the nearby Vijaya Kumaratunga Hospital (VKH) situated along the main Negombo-colombo Road and sought urgent treatment.
Duty Officer- Out Patient Department ( OPD), VKH, Dr. Nilantha Fernando that morning, briefly examined the patients and directed they move the afflicted family members immediately to a larger hospital in Negombo or Ragama, as the VKH did not have sufficient facilities.
“They were vomiting and showed signs of fatigue, and to make matters worse, there was a communication gap because they only spoke Arabic, which was alien to the hospital staff,” Dr Fernando told the Sunday Times.
“I instantly knew that these people had to be treated by specialists, and in an environment that has better equipment, as the VHK is more of an eye institute, and suggested that they be taken to the Negombo Hospital which is the closest from this location,” Dr. Fernando added.
On arriving at the Negombo Hospital, the Emirati family was immediately warded and put on the drip as their case was being examined before appropriate treatment could be administered. “The husband was sent to a male ward, the wife to a female section and the toddler to the primary care unit,” Hospital Director, Dr. Iresha Dassanayake told the Sunday Times.
“However, an hour later, as they made a slight recovery, the hus- band insisted that he leave the hospital along with his family, even though he was strongly advised against it,” he said.
Perhaps the alien hospital environment made him uncomfortable, as they were a long way from home where things are very much different in such circumstances in the UAE. Whatever the reason, the man’s decision was to prove costly because, if they had stayed on in Negombo for at least another day, this tragedy could have been averted.
“It was certainly not food poisoning, but whatever the case may have been, it was not life- threatening at that time. We understand that they were taken seriously ill after returning, and spent several hours in the same room at the hotel,” Dr. Fernando added.
And then, shortly after dusk, on the same day, when the family became critically ill, particularly the toddler, worried hotel staff rushed them to the privatelyowned Hemas Hospital, Wattala, where doctors tried in vain to revive the woman and the child who had gone into cardiac arrest.
The mother and toddler were pronounced dead around 9.45 pm, while the husband was wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a life-threatening state, but his condition improved the following day, and is presently being treated in the
A top official of the hotel denied reports that the room given out to the Emirati family had been fumigated for bugs earlier in the day.
“This is not the case. This room was clean. It was another room that had been fumigated for bugs,” the hotel’s General Manager, Asoka Jayamane said.
He added that, on the day the victims fell ill, UAE, the hospital’s spokesperson, Dr. Samanthi de Silva told the Sunday Times.
The victims were identified as Dalal Ali Saif Obaid Al Mazroui, 23 and her son Ali Mohammed Ali Mazroui, 18 months. Meanwhile, investigations to ascertain the real cause of death has run into a major obstacle, as the bodies were taken out of the country sans a postmortem, following a request to this effect by the victim’s extended family in the UAE, which was relayed to the relevant authorities through diplomatic channels.
The Wattala Magistrate’s court had, at first, ordered a postmortem on Wednesday, but had a re- think the next day, following strong representations made by the UAE Embassy in Colombo, and so the bodies were released intact on late Thursday, and later flown out of the country on a special aircraft sent from Dubai.
On board the same plane was also the husband, after clearance was granted that it was safe for him to make the four-and-ahalf hour flight to the UAE capital.
The husband was sent to a male ward, the wife to a female section and the toddler to the primary care unit.”
they had contacted their guide, instead of the hotel staff.
“If the family was not happy with the conditions at Negombo Hospital, then it was the responsibility of the guide to take them to a better hospital, instead of returning to the hotel.
But this was not the case, and the end result is now known,” Mr. Jayamane added.
Assisting the local authorities in the probe was a six- member team from the UAE, which included medical personnel, police and forensic experts.
Additional Government Analyst, W. D. G. S. Gunathileke told the Sunday Times that forensic experts had gathered gas samples from the room the family had shared, as well as other areas of the hotel complex.
“At the moment, we are going through these samples, in a bid to establish if it was linked in any way to the death,” he said.
Earlier reports suggested that a mosquito repellent vapor, or some other chemical sprayed inside the room, prior to the family moving into it, may have been the cause of the deaths.
However, in the absence of a postmortem, none of these theories could be denied or confirmed, Police Spokesman Superintendent (SP) Ajith Rohana said.
“Without evidence, it is near zero to start any kind of probe, and in this case the matter appears to be closed, as those involved are foreigners and even no longer in the country,” he added.
Meanwhile, the authorities are also holding a separate probe to ascertain if there was any carelessness on part of the hotel staff, following various adverse reports relating to the incident, an official said.
“We have given the hotel management several guidelines on precautions to be taken to prevent a repeat of what took place this week.
In addition, officials also carried out a thorough check of the food samples, ventilators, etc,” Vipula Wannigasekera of Sri Lanka Tourism told the Sunday Times.
“Such incidents are bad for the industry, and should never be the case again. Not only the Ramada at Seeduwa, but similar advice and instructions have gone out to all active hotels in the industry”, Mr. Wannigasekera added.