Death Toll In Bihar’s Siwan Hooch Tragedy Rises To 28

Photo courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: The death toll in the Siwan Hooch tragedy in Bihar has now increased to 28, as per a release by the District Public Relations Officer on Thursday.
The total count in the state has now risen to 33 with 28 dead in Siwan and 5 dead in Saran. So far, 79 people have been admitted to the Siwan Sadar Hospital, Basantpur Primary Health Centre and 13 severely sick people have been admitted to PMCH Patna for treatment, ANI reported.

Thirty people have been discharged from the hospital, as per the Siwan PRO. Additionally, the post-mortem of the 28 people has been done and their bodies have been handed over to the families.

As per the District Officer, a medical board of five senior doctors has been constituted and 30 beds in Siwan Sadar Hospital, 20 beds in CHC Basantpur and 30 beds in Sub Division Hospital Maharajganj have been reserved for treating sick people. The hospitals have also been instructed to remain alert for the next 24 hours.
The District Officer has also arranged additional ambulances in the affected panchayats.

Senior administrative officers have been deputed in all hospitals, and directions have been sent to all ANMs, Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, Vikas Mitra and Panchayat workers to make door-to-door visits at the wards of the sick people and identify any serious symptoms, if any, refer to hospitals for treatment.

Meanwhile, the opposition has lambasted the Bihar government claiming that its liquor ban policy has failed.

“Liquor ban is a small example of Shri Nitish Kumar’s institutional corruption. If a liquor ban has been implemented then it is the government’s responsibility to implement it completely but due to the ideological and policy ambiguity of the Chief Minister, weak will and dependence on selected officials instead of public representatives, liquor ban is a super flop in Bihar today,” said RJD leader and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Friday said that the government has taken the matter seriously and the culprits would not be spared.

Speaking to media persons, Sinha said “The government has taken this matter very seriously and the culprits behind this would not be spared. The government is investigating who the people are behind this. Their faces will be exposed and those playing with the lives of the poor people will not be spared. People doing the liquor business become the candidates from RJD. The liquor ban has been implemented with everyone’s consent. Everyone should cooperate to implement it completely and stop saving the criminals who have committed this crime.”