Gorakhpur children death: Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav hits out at Yogi government, calls for immediate action

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Lucknow: Hitting out at Yogi government over the deaths of 30 children in the last two days at the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh called for strong action.

गोरखपुर मे आक्सीजन की कमी से बच्चों की दर्दनाक मौत , सरकार ज़िम्मेदार।कठोर कार्यवाही हो, 20-20 लाख का मुआवज़ा दे सरकार ।

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 11, 2017

 Taking to Twitter, Yadav expressed grief and wrote, "Families of the dead were sent off with the bodies, they did not even do autopsies... extremely unfortunate".

मृतकों के परिजनों को लाश देकर भगा दिया गया, मृतक का पोस्टमार्टम तक नहीं हुआ है, भर्ती कार्ड भी गायब कर दिया गया है । अत्यन्त दुखद । — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 11, 2017

Yesterday, District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela addressed a press conference and confirmed the death of 30 children in the last two days and seven deaths in the last 24 hours.

He had said that 17 children had died in the neo-natal ward, five in the ward meant for patients suffering from acute encephalitis syndrome and eight in the general ward.

Rautela further said that an inquiry committee has been set up to ascertain the exact causes of the deaths and it has been asked to submit its report by tomorrow evening. Action will be taken against those responsible. He also said that alternative arrangements had been made from neighbouring Sant Kabir Nagar district to ensure availability of liquid oxygen for the hospital. At present, there are 50 oxygen cylinders and 100 to 150 more will be reaching soon.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi also expressed deep shock at the tragic death of the children. 

Pained beyond words by this humongous tragedy, Sonia Gandhi said, "My heart goes out to the families of the innocent children who fell prey to gross negligence and incorrigible misconduct on the part of the authorities."

She urged the Uttar Pradesh government to take immediate cognisance of the crime and bring the culprits to book. She also called upon the state Congress workers to provide relief to the families of victims.

Meanwhile, Rahul took to his Twitter page and said "Deeply pained. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. BJP govt is responsible and should punish the negligent, who caused this tragedy."

Deeply pained.My thoughts are with the families of the victims.BJP govt is responsible & should punish the negligent,who caused this tragedy https://t.co/rdwDJblJEj — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 11, 2017

Yesterday, as many as 30 children lost their lives due to encephalitis, which is a sudden onset inflammation of the brain, in a span of 48 hours at the hospital of Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das Medical College.

Yogi Adityanath government has reportedly asked for a report on this incident within 24 hours. 

(With inputs from agencies)