Patients run away from hospital in Gadwal after gas leak rumours, one dies

Chaos erupted at the area hospital in Jogulamba-Gadwal after the rumours of the gas leak which resulted in the in-patients running away from the hospital on Monday morning. An asthma patient identified as Krishnaiah who also rushed out from the hospital collapsed and breathed his last in the scuffle.

Krishnaiah, a native of Athmakur was on ventilator support but he managed to run away from the hospital following which he suffered severe breathlessness and died.

The rumours were spread after some in-patients noticed white fumes emanating from an oxygen cylinder in the children's ward. Though the hospital staff reacted swiftly and closed the valve on the cylinder, the rumours triggered panic among the patients who rushed out of the building.

Meanwhile, the authorities said that it was just a minor incident but the patients panicked.

The incident recalls the fire accident in the COVID-19 ward at Hotel Swarna Palace in Vijayawada which claimed many lives. There were 30 patients in the building when the incident took place.