Mysuru:  Even as the bus tragedy at Kanaganamaradi in Pandavapura of Mandya that took place exactly three Saturdays back (Nov.24) where 30 persons lost their lives is fresh in the minds of people, another horrifying case of mass poisoning shook Chamarajanagar and Mysuru yesterday where over 11 people died after consuming prasadam at Maramma Temple in Sulwadi village of Hanur taluk in Chamarajanagar.

In all, over 104 persons were affected in the temple tragedy. While the official figure of death toll stands at 11, 93 persons have been admitted to various hospitals in Mysuru with the State-run K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital taking the patient load. Of them, 29 persons are said to be in a critical condition.

According to the data provided by Health Department officials this morning, 30 persons including women and children have been admitted to K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital and 4 are critical, 16 have been admitted to JSS Hospital and 8 critical, 13 have been admitted to Apollo Hospital and 6 are critical, 11 are in Cauvery Hospital and 4 critical, 6 have been admitted to Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Hospital and 2 are critical, 5 victims have been admitted to Columbia Asia Hospital and 3 are in a critical state, Suyog Hospital has 11 patients and 2 are in a critical condition and one patient is being treated at Bhanavi Hospital.  

All the critical patients are currently on the ventilator. “We are trying to ensure that all victims get the best possible help. Their condition is being monitored continuously,” Chamarajanagar DC B.B. Cauvery and Additional Deputy Commissioner C.L. Anand said.

Doctors said that all the critical patients have to be monitored constantly as the pesticide content in the blood does not go away easily. “They might show some improvement but it will take at least 8 to 10 days for them to come out of danger,” doctors said.

K.R. Hospital that has been handling most of the patients since yesterday had a steady stream of visitors this morning. Hundreds of relatives of patients who have been admitted there clogged the wards, corridors, Outpatient and Inpatient Departments and the Surgical Block. On an average, over 1,500 people visit the hospital every day and doctors said that this is for the first time that K.R. Hospital is handling continuous flow of patients.

Those in the Casualty Emergency Ward have been shifted to other wards and the ward was exclusively reserved for the temple patients. Mysuru District Administration arranged Artificial Life Support (ALS) ambulances to extend immediate medical care to victims and to shift them to hospitals for better medical care.

All the floors of the K.R. Hospital and the five floors of the earlier Jayadeva Hospital were full of patients and their relatives. Hospital doctors, paramedics, doctors and their assistants from private hospitals are working round-the-clock to treat the patients and also handle fresh patients who are being shifted to K.R. Hospital. Due to the large inflow of patients from Kollegal, the regular patients at the K.R. Hospital had to face inconvenience. Severe shortage of doctors and nursing staff has compounded the problem.

A steady stream of political leaders visited the K.R. Hospital this morning. They included Mandya District Minister C.S. Puttaraju who is stay put at the K.R. Hospital, former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao, Chamarajanagar District Minister Puttaranga Shetty, Minister Zameer Ahmed, Chamarajanagar MP R. Dhruvanarayan, MLC R. Dharmasena, MLAs S.A. Ramdas, L. Nagendra, Niranjan and R. Narendra. Former MLAs Vasu and M.K. Somashekar also visited the hospitals.

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