The Agra administration has ordered a probe after a viral video from an Agra hospital surfaced where the authorities are purportedly discussing a ‘mock drill’ carried out on April 26 by shutting off oxygen to its patients.
The incident is alleged to have claimed 22 lives.
The conversation is said to be in the context of the oxygen crisis that surfaced on April 26 and 27. A person can be seen in the video speaking in front of the hospital manager that 22 people had died.
District magistrate Prabhu Narayan Singh said here on Tuesday that an investigation has been ordered to find the authenticity of the viral video.
As per the government records only four patients had died in Paras Hospital on April 26, he said.
Mr Singh said, “There was a shortage of oxygen on April 26 and 27. But the whole night the administration team along with the health department kept delivering oxygen to the hospitals. On April 26, a total of 97 Covid patients were admitted to Paras Hospital, out of which four had died. Therefore, the viral video cannot be called authentic, but still, this video will be investigated.”
Meanwhile, the hospital manager and owner, Arinjay Jain, can be heard saying in the viral video, “We were told by the chief minister that there will be no supply of oxygen. Modi Nagar is dry. We began to tell families. Some listened, but others refused to leave. Let’s see after doing a mock drill, we will figure out who will die and who will survive. The mock drill took place at seven in the morning, no one knew about it. In five minutes 22 patients died. They began turning blue in five minutes.”
The video is said to be from April 28. At the time at least 96 Covid patients were admitted to the hospital at that time.
As per claims in the viral video, out of 96, only 74 patients survived. Four videos of Jain have gone viral in which he was narrating the story.
Jain has denied the allegations and claimed that the videos were distorted.
