A group of unruly students of Dhaka Medical College (DMC) vandalised the emergency unit of its hospital (DMCH) after a patient was allegedly refused admission on Wednesday.
Hospital sources said the incident occurred when doctors refused to admit a patient named Masud, who came for treatment from Sujanagar in Pabna with eye and body injuries.
After he was brought to DMCH, he was first taken to an eye specialist and then to the neurosurgery department. Doctors at the department said Masud was “not sick enough” to be admitted to the hospital.
“Relatives of the patient engaged in a row with the ward boy and staff members of the department over this matter, and soon a scuffle broke out. The relatives called a student of the college around 3am, who happened to be related to them,” said a doctor seeking anonymity.
The student came with a friend but was assaulted by the hospital staffers. He then called in several fellow students from DMC dormitories, who entered the Emergency Department by breaking down its collapsible gate.
“They vandalised windowpanes and furniture with sticks, iron rod, cricket bats and stamps. The staff members had by then escaped from the scene,” the doctor said.
The incident caused widespread panic among the patients and attending relatives in the department. After about half an hour of chaos, police came and managed to bring the situation under control.
Duty doctor Amzad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that the incident happened as the employees confined a medical student and beat him up.
Contacted, DMCH Deputy Director Mushfiqur Rahman said a five-member committee headed by Assistant Commissioner (administration) Khaza Abul Gafur was formed to probe the matter. The committee will submit its report within four working days.
“We have got some footage from the hospital’s CCTV cameras. These will be used to find out the attackers,” he added.
