Mob ransacks hospital after swine flu death in Bengaluru

Second time in a week that doctors in the city have come under attack after death of patient

Tension prevailed at Mahaveer Jain Hospital in the city on Saturday when a group of people vandalised the hospital following the death of a person due to H1N1 influenza.

This is the second time in a week that doctors in the city have come under attack after the death of a swine flu patient.

Medical director M.D. Marker told

The Hindu that a group of people, carrying stones, smashed the glass pane of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The group then assaulted him when he went to enquire.

When hospital staff rushed to rescue the Medical Director, the group allegedly threatened them.

The assaulters then damaged an ultrasound scanning machine, and even poured fuel on the ground floor of the hospital. The housing keeping staff, who were alerted, immediately cleaned the area.

The High Grounds police brought the situation under control. Preliminary enquiries revealed that the attack was carried out following the death of an H1N1 patient earlier in the day.

On March 1, family and friends of B.V. Ganesh, a swine flu patient, protested in front of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases on the suspicion that a power outage had caused the patient’s ventilator to stop.