Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital. Photo: Collected
Following the demise of a heart patient inside a lift at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in Gazipur on Sunday (12 May), the authorities have sent a letter to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), citing the disorder inside the elevator as the reason behind the death.
The letter mentioned that the safety system of the lift did not work due to the patient and her relatives consistently pushing on the elevator door.
The letter, signed by Dr Jahangir Alam, acting director of the hospital, was sent to the DGHS on Sunday.
The hospital authorities have denied the patient’s family’s claim that they were stuck inside for 45 minutes and said they were only there for 10-15 minutes.
According to the letter, the lift was stuck between the ninth and 10th floors due to a power outage. In this situation, it takes the lift to operate again in just one minute. However, the people inside the lift and the relatives of the patients started pushing the doors which caused the lift to malfunction.
Later, before the manual intervention by the lift operator, the people inside the lift managed to get outside of it. Claiming that the elevator was not faulty, the letter said the hospital authorities regularly serviced the elevator.
On Sunday morning, the patient, Mumtaz Begum, 53, died when a lift malfunctioned at the hospital.
Dr Kamrul Islam, resident surgeon of the hospital also said, it is believed that Mumtaz had a heart attack a few days ago.
They brought her to the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital and admitted her to the medicine department of the hospital on the 11th floor.
After some physical tests, they were informed that Mumtaz had been suffering from cardiac-related complications. According to the physician’s advice, the family members were taking Mumtaz to the cardiac department on the 4th floor. But the elevator suddenly halted on the 9th floor around 11am and they were trapped there allegedly for 45 minutes.
The patient’s daughter Sharmin alleged that they called the hospital staff for help but they misbehaved with them. Later, they called the emergency helpline 999. Fire service members rescued them but her mother died.
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