Kottayam (Kerala) | A 52-year-old woman died and three others, including a child, were injured after a part of the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam collapsed on Thursday, police said.
The opposition UDF mounted pressure on Health Minister Veena George to resign and also sought a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The woman has been identified as Bindu from Thalayolaparambu. She was pulled out from the debris more than two hours later and was declared dead.
The injured --11-year-old Aleena, Amal Pradeep (20), and Jinu Saji (38)--were admitted to the casualty department shortly after the incident. All admitted patients are safe, the hospital authorities said.
Bindu had come to the hospital with her daughter, who is being treated there.
The injured child, Aleena, from Meenangadi in Wayanad, had been standing next to her grandmother, who was undergoing treatment in Ward 10.
The toilet complex adjacent to wards 10, 11, and 14 at Kottayam Government Medical College collapsed while the hospital was in the process of fully shifting operations to the newly constructed surgical block built with KIIFB funds, said Medical College Principal Dr Varghese P Punnoose in a statement.
Currently, patients from the affected upper wards are being shifted to other areas. ICU, operation theatres, and other facilities are also being relocated to the newly constructed surgical block. This process is being carried out on a war footing, Punnoose said.
He said that entry from wards 11 and 14 to this toilet complex had already been completely restricted and that the area was not in current use.
Health Minister Veena George and Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan visited the site soon after the incident.
They claimed that the damaged section was an old, disused toilet area in a block that housed three wards.
One of the women disputed the minister's claim and said it was not an unused area. "No one told us not to use the toilets there," she told reporters.
The opposition Congress party accused the ministers of trying to downplay the seriousness of the accident.
"Before even checking if anyone was trapped under the debris, ministers tried to downplay the gravity of the incident," said senior Congress leader and Kottayam MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, speaking to a news channel.
"This reveals serious negligence. The woman was pulled out only after two to two-and-a-half hours," he added.
Congress leaders also alleged delays in launching the rescue operation. They said search efforts only began seriously after relatives of the missing woman raised concerns.
Rescue teams from the fire and police departments were deployed to search the debris.
Opposition UDF leaders, including MP Francis George, MLAs Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Chandy Oommen visited the hospital.
While opposition Congress-led UDF demanded George's resignation, citing serious lapses in rescue operations and broader failures in the state's public health system, the BJP said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan "is no longer fit to remain in his position even for a moment" and must resign.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government was playing with people's lives and accused the Left government of being responsible for the growing failures in the state's healthcare system.
The UDF has also called for a judicial inquiry into the incident.
UDF leaders accused the minister and her colleague, Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan, of "prematurely declaring" that no one was trapped in the debris, which they said delayed rescue work.
"Even when bystanders and relatives said people were using the space and someone was missing, the ministers insisted it was empty," Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, said at a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram.
"That false announcement stopped the rescue. A family lost their mother because of it," the Congress leader alleged.
Satheesan said patients and their relatives had been using the toilets in that section regularly, that too on the morning of the incident.
"If it was truly closed, how did a woman get trapped inside? The minister must take moral responsibility and resign," he said.
In a strongly worded statement, BJP State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that the government initially tried to downplay the incident by claiming the collapsed section was an unused part of the hospital.
"If that is the case, the government must explain how someone lost their life," he said.
Chandrasekhar said the health department has a duty to ensure the safety of patients visiting hospitals.
"If the building posed a danger, why were warning signs not posted and access not restricted? The administration owes the people an explanation," he added.
Justifying her initial statement, George said that it was based on information provided by officials.
The minister said whatever she explained earlier was based on what officials, including the superintendent, told her at the time.
George said the Kottayam district collector will now investigate the incident.
Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the Congress, Muslim League, and their youth and women’s wings, held protests across the state demanding the resignation of George.
Amid mounting protests, Chief Minister Vijayan visited the Kottayam Government medical college and assessed the situation.
Kottayam (Kerala) | Kerala Health Minister Veena George is facing mounting pressure to resign after a woman died when part of a building collapsed at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday.
While opposition Congress-led UDF demanded her resignation, citing serious lapses in rescue operations and broader failures in the state's public health system, the BJP said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan "is no longer fit to remain in his position even for a moment" and must resign.
Bindu, the mother of a patient, was found dead under the debris two and a half hours after a section of the old hospital building collapsed.
While two others, including an 11-year-old girl, were injured and quickly admitted to the hospital's casualty ward, rescue efforts to locate Bindu were reportedly delayed.
UDF leaders accused the minister and her colleague, Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan, of "prematurely declaring" that no one was trapped in the debris, which they said delayed rescue work.
"Even when bystanders and relatives said people were using the space and someone was missing, the ministers insisted it was empty," Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, said at a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram.
"That false announcement stopped the rescue. A family lost their mother because of it," the Congress leader alleged.
Satheesan said patients and their relatives had been using the toilets in that section regularly, that too on the morning of the incident.
"If it was truly closed, how did a woman get trapped inside? The minister must take moral responsibility and resign," he said.
In a strongly worded statement, BJP State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that the government initially tried to downplay the incident by claiming the collapsed section was an unused part of the hospital.
"If that is the case, the government must explain how someone lost their life," he said.
Chandrasekhar said the health department has a duty to ensure the safety of patients visiting hospitals.
"If the building posed a danger, why were warning signs not posted and access not restricted? The administration owes the people an explanation," he added.
Justifying her initial statement, George said that it was based on information provided by officials.
The minister said whatever she explained earlier was based on what officials, including the superintendent, told her at the time.
George said the Kottayam district collector will now investigate the incident.
According to the minister, it was a closed block that collapsed.
"A decision had already been taken on May 30 to shift to a new building, and the move was scheduled to be completed by July 31," she said.
She further said that the building had been declared unsafe in 2013.
AICC General Secretary and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal called for an inquiry into the delay in rescue operations following the building collapse at Kottayam Medical College, which led to the loss of a life.
He said that Health Minister George and Minister Vasavan, who arrived at the scene, should have assessed the situation properly and only then stated that there was no one inside the collapsed structure -- after urgent rescue efforts had been carried out.
"Instead, their premature statements caused a delay in the rescue operation. Had action been taken swiftly, the life of a poor woman could have been saved," he said.
"This was a grave error on the part of the ministers. It is truly unfortunate that an innocent woman lost her life," Venugopal said in a statement.
Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the Congress, Muslim League, and their youth and women’s wings, held protests across the state demanding the resignation of George.
Police used force to disperse protesting activists of the opposition outfits in several places, including Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
Amid mounting protests, Chief Minister Vijayan visited the Kottayam Government medical college and assessed the situation.
He was accompanied by Ministers Vasavan and George, Health Department Additional Chief Secretary Rajan Khobragade, District Collector John V Samuel, and senior police officials.