Vijayawada: Three officials of Ramesh Hospital in Vijayawada were arrested on Monday for neglecting the need of electrical repairs which could have averted the fire accident that killed as many as 10 people on August 9.
The three officials include the hospital's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dr Kodali Raja Gopala Rao, Dr Kurapati Sudarshan, and Pallabothu Venkatesh. The three officials are directly responsible for ensuring that the safety of patients being treated at the facility is taken care of, as per the release by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
"A committee led by Joint Collector L Siva Shankar is responsible for executing an administrative enquiry into the accident to determine whether the accident or the damage caused by the same could be evaded if the authorities had been more diligent. The committee has been asked to submit a report within 48 hours," read the release.
While investigating the accident and all relevant angles concerning the same, the incident commander and Tahsildar of Vijayawada Central unearthed some major lapses from the hospital management's end.
"It appears that Hotel Swarna Palace and Ramesh Hospitals had knowledge of that there were electrical defects in the lodge, and as rectification of defects involved huge amounts, avoided the repairs," said the Tahsildar in his complaint.