Hospital says man died in AC blast, wife kills self, now it says he’s alive
In a tragic turn of events at a private medical college in Bhubaneswar, a man initially believed to have perished in an AC compressor blast was discovered alive and receiving treatment at the same hospital. Unfortunately, the misinformation regarding his demise led to his wife, unable to cope with the trauma, taking her own life.
The confusion arose when the body of a contractual worker, who lost his life in the blast, was mistakenly identified as Dilip Samantray, another worker. This misidentification led to the wrongful handover of the body to Samantray’s family, who proceeded to cremate it.
The incident unfolded at Hi-Tech Hospital, where a compressor blast injured four staffers of an outsourcing agency. Tragically, two of the injured individuals passed away during treatment, while two others were transferred to the hospital’s ICU.
Smita Padhi, the CEO of the hospital, explained that after the blast, a staff member from the agency provided details to identify the injured persons, and the hospital maintained records based on this information.
“A person identified as Dilip Samantray (according to the records) died during the treatment on December 30 and as per protocol, we informed the police. His family members received the body after due procedures,” Padhi told reporters.
Regrettably, on January 1, upon learning of her husband’s supposed demise in the blast, Dilip’s wife, Soumyashree Jena, took her own life. Another individual injured in the blast, identified as Sritam Sahu, succumbed to injuries on January 3. The remaining two patients showed slight improvement in their health and were taken off ventilator support on Thursday.
“When the doctors asked one patient his name, he said ‘Dilip Samantray’. This led to confusion and psychiatrist Amrit Pattojoshi was asked to evaluate the mental condition of the patient, apprehending he might be in delusion,” said Padhi.
Hospital sources revealed that the confusion arose due to the severe burns on the faces of the injured persons, making identification challenging. The hospital authorities have filed a complaint with the police regarding the unfortunate series of events.
