Patient in Kurseong hospital falls to death following suspected escape bid

EOI, Kurseong, 21 May 2014:  A patient at the Kurseong sub-divisional hospital fell from the fourth storey and died Tuesday night after he tried to escape through the ventilator of the toilet.

According to Kurseong sub-divisional medical officer Rumi Mondal, Zinlep Lama (57), a resident of Upper Naya Busty in Kurseong had been admitted on May 19 at the paying ward of the hospital after he complained to his wife of acute gastritis. Sources said Lama’s wife came to see him in the daytime since his admission, but the patient did not have any attendant during nighttime.

Lama was a habitual alcoholic, but had remained sober for a couple of days, the sources said. But Tuesday evening he started showing symptoms of withdrawal. The hospital staff members on duty tried to contact his family members, but failed in the attempt. Lama was seen lying on his bed around 9pm when the doctors make their routine rounds of the wards.

Other patients and their attendants in the ward said Lama got up around 10pm to go to the toilet and after a few minutes they heard a loud thud from the toilet. When some of them rushed to investigate, they found the ventilator’s glass pane broken and spotted Lama’s limp body four storeys below on the ground.

The hospital authority immediately sent Lama to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri where he died from his fall injuries.

It is suspected that Lama could have been trying to escape from the hospital through the ventilator and he slipped and fell while making the attempt.