Caretakers and family members of many patients, who were discharged after the incident, had to wait on the hospital premises to collect their belongings that they had left in the ward while being evacuated hurriedly.
Family members of those admitted to Kasturba Hospital said timely evacuation of the patients by the hospital staff helped avert a major tragedy on Saturday following an LPG leak incident.
Ramkesh Yadav, a resident of the central suburbs, said, “My 10-year-old son Anand was admitted on July 31 as he was suffering from jaundice. My wife has been staying with him at the hospital.”
On Saturday, Yadav went to the hospital to give breakfast to his wife and son, who was scheduled to be discharged that day. Yadav said as soon as he entered Ward 30, he noticed a foul smell.
“I could smell the gas as soon as I entered the ward. I immediately informed one of the staffers there. I was initially told not to panic as some work was underway and the problem would be fixed.” he added.
However, after 20 minutes, a group of hospital staffers entered the ward and asked everyone to evict the premises, Yadav said.
A parent of another patient, who did not wish to be identified, said: “The smell of the gas started causing irritation in my son’s throat, while my wife faced difficulty in breathing. However, they were evacuated with the help of the hospital staffers in time.”
Mustakeen Bubar, a resident of Goregaon, claimed that he had gone to bring food for his seven-year-old son, who was also admitted on July 31, as he was suffering from jaundice.
“When I came back to the hospital, I saw everyone was running for their lives. I asked a hospital staffer about what happened. She asked me to look for my family and rush outside,” said Bubar.
The patients and their caretakers were subsequently moved to Ward 20, which is around 300 metres from the leakage site.
Normalcy was restored later in the day at the facility. Caretakers and family members of many patients, who were discharged after the incident, had to wait on the hospital premises to collect their belongings that they had left in the ward while being evacuated hurriedly.
Yadav said, “Around 6 pm, we were told to come back on Tuesday to collect our valuables as the process to shift LPG from one tanker to another and repair works were on.”
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