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An inquiry was ordered on Monday into the death of 11 newly-born infants in K G Medical College in Lucknow during last 48-hours allegedly due to shortage of oxygen cylinders.
Vice Chancellor D P Singh set up a three-member high-powered committee to look into complaints of parents of the deceased children, who alleged that enough oxygen cylinders were not available in the neo-natal unit of the medical college where the infants were undergoing treatment.
While six deaths were reported on November three, five more infants reportedly died since November four taking the total number of deaths to 11, in-charge of the unit, G K Malik said.
He, however, attributed these deaths to some other reasons and denied there was a shortage of oxygen cylinders in the unit.
Parents complained that ventilators were not functioning properly and they had to buy UMBO-bags (small oxygen packs operated manually) to keep the oxygen supply running in case of emergency.
Doctors at the unit admitted that the UMBO-bags could not function as substitute to the ventilators in certain cases as they cannot be used for longer periods.
Meanwhile, the three-member committee headed by M K Mitra, head of the medicine department, will submit its report on November seven.
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