‘United Hospital cannot avoid responsibility for fire deaths’

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud has said United Hospital cannot avoid responsibility for the deaths of five people caused by last week’s fire incident at COVID-19 isolation unit of the hospital.

 “I don’t think United Hospital authorities can avoid responsibility for the death of five people,” he said adding that the fire service found negligence of United Hospital authorities in primary investigation.

The minister came up with the statement while addressing a press conference at the meeting room of his ministry at secretariat in Dhaka on Tuesday, report bdnews24.com and BSS.

Terming the refusal of health facilities to provide medical services as a punishable offence, the minister said the government would take actions against authorities of those hospitals which would refuse to render the health services to patients.

“The hospitals that are refusing to provide health services in this situation are doing punishable offences. . . I hope no hospitals including private ones would do such behaviour and they extend their helping hands to the distressed people and the humanity as well,” he told reporters.

Sounding a note of warning against denial of providing medical treatment to patients, the information minister said the government is monitoring these activities.

“The government would take actions soon if such incident of negligence takes place continuously”, he added.