Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday asked the United Hospital to pay four victim families Tk 30 lakh each in 15 days as initial compensation over the damages and death of their family members in the recent fire incident happened in the hospital.
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order after virtual hearing on four separate writ petitions filed in this regard.
Barrister Aneeq R Haque, Barrister Hassan MS Azim, Barrister Muntasir Uddin Ahmed, Barrister Niaz Muhammad Mahbub and Barrister Shahida Sultana Shila took part in the hearing on behalf of the writ petitioners, Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud and Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan appeared in the hearing on behalf of the United Hospital.
Barrister Niaz said, “The court on June 29 asked the parties to make a settlement over the issue. Later the hospital authorities sent letter to the victim families for the settlement. But the families didn’t agree with the money offered by the hospital. Only one family out of five families made a settlement with the payment of Tk 20 lakh.”
“Then the other families came to the court for its directives. And after hearing, the court ordered the hospital to give Tk 30 lakh to each family as initial compensation,” added the lawyer.
A devastating fire, which started from an air-conditioning unit in one of the four rooms there, killed five patients, who could not get up and escape, on May 27 night.
The five patients who were killed in the fire incident were— Riazul Alam, 45, Khodeza Begum, 70, Bherun Anthony Paul, 74, Md Monir Hossain, 75 and Md Mahabub, 50, said a United Hospital statement.
They were undergoing treatment with COVID-19 like symptoms at the isolation ward outside the main hospital building, said the statement.
Later, the fire service was informed immediately who brought the blaze under control within 15-20 minutes.
Two Supreme Court lawyers, Barrister Niaz Muhammad Mahbub and Barrister Shahida Sultana Shila, on May 30 this year filed the first writ petition seeking HC directives for cancellation of the licence of United Hospital and compensation for the victims’ family. Later three more writ petitions were filed over the same ground.
On June 2, the High Court sought probe reports from separate four bodies,United Hospital, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), Fire Service and Civil Defense authority and Inspector General of Police, to submit separate probe reports within June 14.
A report submitted by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) said that the United Hospital authorities did not take their permission to build the corona isolation unit.
