Bhagalpur: A newborn died just one and a half hours after birth at Rangra Community Hospital near Naugachhia on Wednesday. The family alleges that the child was on oxygen support, but when a power cut occurred, the oxygen supply was disrupted, leading to the child’s death.
The child’s maternal uncle, Mohammad Nisar Alam, stated that the hospital staff took 30 minutes to restore electricity using a generator. He explained, “The staff responsible for the generator was not at their post, and it was discovered that the generator lacked fuel. It took the operator 20-25 minutes to fetch oil, and only after that was the generator started. By then, our child had already died.”
Following the incident, hundreds of locals gathered outside the hospital, demanding accountability. Rangra police station personnel arrived at the spot to control the situation.
The father of the child, Mohammad Saud Alam, a resident of Madhepura district, brought his pregnant wife to Rangra Community Hospital. He said, “The child was born at 2:40 p.m. and appeared healthy. A nurse informed us that the baby was doing fine but was placed on oxygen. Suddenly, the power went out, and everything changed.”
The family has accused the hospital staff of negligence, claiming they were inattentive to the patient’s needs. Mohammad Nisar Alam, the maternal uncle, stated, “The hospital’s GNM-ANM staff were more focused on their mobile phones than on the patients. When we asked about the generator, they threatened to refer us elsewhere instead of taking prompt action.”
Mohammad Shahzad Alam, another maternal uncle, added, “When we arrived, we saw the generator operator holding a can of oil. There was no fuel in the generator, which caused a delay in restoring oxygen supply.”
In the aftermath of the newborn’s death, the family began protesting outside the hospital, demanding justice and accountability. Hundreds of local residents joined the protest, creating a tense atmosphere. Police from Rangra station eventually intervened and managed to pacify the crowd.
The family has now demanded the filing of an FIR against the hospital administration and the generator operator. “We want to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” said Mohammad Nisar Alam.
Dr. Ranjan Kumar, the in-charge of Rangra Community Hospital, acknowledged the power outage but denied knowing about the lack of fuel in the generator. He admitted, however, that the hospital faces various challenges. “We do not have a paediatrician,” he said, listing some of the facility’s shortcomings but refraining from further comments on the incident.
