RG Kar Medical College and Hospital yet again faced a major backlash after the Number Two lift of the trauma care building malfunctioned, trapping a family of three inside.
The Telegraph Online tries to piece together what happened on March 20, before sunrise.
Around Thursday midnight, Arup Bandopadhyay, 40, and his family went to the trauma care building of the state-run hospital to treat his son’s broken leg. While going from the first floor to the fourth towards the OPD room, the lift stopped abruptly, trapping Bandopadhyay, his wife, and their son inside, said Bandopadhyay’s father.
The lift where Arup Bandopadhyay was trapped at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. (Amit Datta)
Hospital sources say the lift shook violently, and those trapped inside screamed for help.
“They screamed and shouted for help repeatedly, but the security guard, and the home guard on duty did nothing. The security guard had his headphones on, and did not hear the pleas,” said the elderly man, who lost his son.
The family was allegedly trapped for an hour.
All of a sudden, the lift collapsed, and the iron door frame remained stuck. A collapsible gate in front of the lift was locked.
When asked about the keys to the collapsible gate, the family was informed the key to it, guarding an important piece of machinery, the lift, was with officials of the public works department’s electrical wing staff.
“We are investigating why the liftman was absent at this time,” said Saptarshi Chattopadhyay, the medical superintendent and vice principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The officials said the death might have happened due to suffocation.
The young boy who came with a fractured foot was later taken for surgery, while the father’s body was taken for post mortem.
“We will file a complaint. This is murder. They could have contacted the fire department, but they did nothing,” said the deceased’s elderly father.
The lift later reportedly came back to life and went to the first floor, but the doors did not open instantly.
The liftman operating the lift was missing at the time when the incident took place. Officers from the Tala police station took away the liftman for interrogation.
The hospital principal, Manas Mukherjee, was unavailable for comment.