Malda, May 29: An unidentified man died on the steps of the emergency ward of the district hospital here last night without getting any medical attention.

Today, Malda chief medical officer of health Radharaman Banik ordered an inquiry into the incident. Banik also instructed the hospital authorities to see to it that such events do not recur.

It was around 1pm yesterday that the man, dressed in ragged trousers and shirt, was seen on the hospital premises.

The owner of a tea stall located just outside the emergency ward said the man slumped to the ground before he could enter the facility. This morning, police found him dead, lying in the same position. The body was sent to the hospital morgue

“We had drawn the attention of the hospital staff and the doctors entering and leaving the emergency ward, but no one bothered to see what was ailing the man. Those who come to the hospital with patients were too tied up with their own problems to even glance at the man lying on the ground,” said the shop-owner, who did not want to be named.

The superintendent of the hospital, Animesh Roy, is on leave and his deputy, Mrityunjoy Pal, said no one had told him anything about a man lying outside the emergency ward.

“How will people know whether the man was merely sleeping or ailing. There are hundreds of people who enter and leave the hospital daily, why should the doctors, nurses and the hospital staff be blamed,” Pal said.

However, a source in the hospital said when the on-duty doctors were told that a man was lying unconscious outside the emergency, they came to see him around 8.30pm, but found him dead.

Additional district magistrate Purnachandra Shit has asked the chief medical officer of health to send him a report.

“This cannot go on. We cannot pass the buck,” Shit said.

“There was no one accompanying the man. If there had been someone, maybe we could have saved him,” Banik said. “I have sought a report from the hospital superintendent and will take action when I receive it.”

The chief medical officer of health added that police were yet to identify the man and no one had come forward to claim the body.