COVID-19 victim’s nephews die at cremation site, kin claim 'dehydration' in PPE kit killed them
In a tragic incident, two nephews of a 65-year-old coronavirus victim, who had died on Wednesday, passed away while they had gone to cremate the deceased. According to the details, the incident occurred while the last rites of the deceased were being held in the Tawi river in the Sidhra area of Jammu district after the patient had died at Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu on Wednesday night. The two men collapsed in the Tawi river in Sidhra area, where the cremation of their uncle was performed on Thursday.
According to the Tribune report, doctors said the exact cause of death was not known yet. However, families of the deceased claimed that the duo died due to “dehydration” by wearing PPE kits.
The two victims aged 35 and 40 had collapsed into the river before the cremation took place.
A senior GMCH doctor told HT, “Three relatives of the deceased fell unconscious. Two of them were brought dead to the hospital. The cause of deaths will be known only after autopsy. We will also test them for Covid-19.”
According to Tribune, the family accused the administration of refusing their request for the last rites of the COVID victim at Shakti Nagar crematorium, which did not happen as the administration had failed to identify the place for the funeral. The sequence of events further resulted in the “dehydration” of two persons in the PPE kit under the scorching sun.
Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
“Two persons accompanying the body (COVID-related death) became unconscious and subsequently passed away under mysterious circumstances. It is imperative to probe into the circumstances leading to the unfortunate death of two persons by ordering magisterial inquiry,” Jammu district magistrate Sushma Chauhan said in an order.
On Thursday, Jammu had recorded a maximum temperature of 40°C.
