Gorakhpur tragedy continues: 42 children die in 48 hours at BRD medical college

Agencies
August 30, 2017

Aug 30: Two weeks after the Gorakhpur tragedy that stunned the nation, another 42 children died in the last 48 hours at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College.

“42 children died in 48 hours of which 7 due to encephalitis, rest due to other reasons,” said PK Singh, the principal of BRD Medical College

Over 290 children have died at the hospital from August 1 till August 28, including at least 77 from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).

Among 36 deaths reported on August 27 and 28, seven children died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), 15 in Neo-Natal Ward NICU and 14 children died of different medical reasons, claimed a senior doctor at the hospital seeking anonymity.

According to hospital sources, nearly 1,250 children have died since January 2017, including 175 due to AES.

Following widespread outrage over the death of children, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government suspended BRD principal Dr Rajiv Mishra.

Mishra and his wife were arrested by the Special Task Force in Kanpur on Tuesday.

Dr Kafeel Khan, who shot to limelight for saving many kids, was also sacked from his position of as the head of the encephalitis ward.

Source told the DNA, while the state goes on a sacking spree, no arrangements have been made for the replacements.

It is interesting to note that Gorakhpur and surrounding areas have been badly affected by the encephalitis infection for more than a decade.

Despite many efforts, the locals have not been able to realise the extent of the situation. A doctor on condition of anonymity told the DNA, “How will we treat these infants when they reach hospital at the last stage.”

He also said that, “the toll, if compared from the previous year, is less. Media is unnecessary making a hue and cry.”

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Abdullah
 - 
Wednesday, 30 Aug 2017

Arrest the Murderers Yogi, Modi, Amit shah......

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News Network
December 5,2025

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New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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