A portion of the concrete roof of a room in the pay-ward of the Women and Child Hospital on the Alappuzha Beach fell off here on Saturday.
Fortunately, the room was empty when the incident occurred.
According to witnesses, a woman and her baby had vacated the room around 2.30 p.m., after which the hospital staff cleaned and locked the room. About 2.45 p.m., a huge crash was heard. Though people from nearby rooms rushed to see what happened, they were left baffled since the room was locked. The hospital staff did not bother to open the room and check immediately. However, with other patients and their attenders raising a commotion, the room was opened.
A portion of the concrete roof had fallen off onto the bed and floor of the room, Room No.13 of the pay ward, which is under the Kerala Health Research and Welfare Society (KHRWS). There are only five out of 14 rooms in the pay ward which are in use, and this was one of them. All the other four rooms have mothers and babies as occupants.
According to their attenders, the situation in those rooms was not different.
However, though the patients had lodged complaints with the authorities, nothing was done yet, they said.