Chennai floods: 18 patients die in Chennai hospital after power outage

Amidst disastrous flood, Chennai saw another tragedy as 18 patients in an Intensve-Care Unit (ICU) died after power outage at the Madras Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (MIOT) cut off oxygen supply to ventilators.

According to Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhkrishnan, the MIOT hospital was treating around 575 patients when the floods began. Out of these, 75 of them were on the ventilator at the time, and now, 18 patients have passed away due to unclear reasons. The administration has managed to shift 57 of those critical patients to different hospitals

He added that the reasons of their deaths are unclear as of now and that an investigation is underway to probe the incident.

The unrelenting rains, which have briefly stopped, left Tamil Nadu with an an acute power shortage among others, even though the relief operations are on to restore it.

Meanwhile, with the rains having reduced, rescue operations by different teams have intensified in Tamil Nadu to rescue the stranded people.

NDRF DG OP Singh stated that they have upped the rescue operations, especially in the severely waterlogged areas, and are trying to increase communication levels.

"The rains have stopped for now and its intensity has reduced. Out team will be heading out aggressively to the areas where people are stranded, especially where water-logging is causing major trouble. We have broken up our teams into sector and have dispersed them in south Chennai where the damage is the most," added Singh.