PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, Dec 24: As the chilling winter season has wreaked havoc on the people, the wrong practice of burning bonfires claimed the life of eight in Jharkhand in a week.
On Thursday, Ranchi recorded a minimum temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and Kanke recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius.
Former Lohardaga MLA Kamal Kishore Bhagat died last Friday. According to eyewitnesses, a bonfire was lit in the room due to extreme cold which may be the cause of death. Bhagat and his wife Neeru Shanti Bhagat were in the room. Neeru was discharged from the hospital after treatment.
A painful accident happened in Hazaribagh on December 21 where 3 members of a family died while sleeping due to suffocation. The bonfire also caused death in Shanti Nagar under the Sukhdev Nagar police station area of Ranchi. Here the father and son died of suffocation.
In the Namkum police station area, two people of the same family, living in Samlaung Belbagan Road, died due to suffocation.
On the other hand, 27-year-old Rani Devi, a resident of Katras in Dhanbad, got scorched during the bonfire. Due to serious injury, she was referred from Dhanbad SNMCH to RIMS where she is currently admitted in the burn ward. According to the doctor, 60 per cent of the body has been burnt.
Dr Shailesh Tripathi, deputy medical superintendent, RIMS, said surgery A1 and burn ward have 30 beds, while RIMS Public Relations Officer Dr DK Sinha said that the burn ward of the hospital is full. Apart from the beds, the patients are also being treated on the ground.
On the other hand, Dr Mrityunjay Sarawagi, Department of Surgery, RIMS, said that the bonfire becomes fatal when you keep it in a closed room.
“Due to the filling of smoke in the room, it enters the windpipe, causing breathing problems. Carbon monoxide released from coal-wood burning proves to be fatal and is the biggest cause of death,” Sarawagi said.
