Indian man dies in freak accident after he gets sucked into MRI machine

Ward boy, doctor arrested after family of the victim blames them for negligence

An Indian man died in a Mumbai hospital, on Saturday, after he got sucked into an MRI machine after carrying a metal oxygen cylinder into the room, reports NDTV.

Relatives of Rajesh Maru, 32, blame the staff for their “massive negligence” in the matter. Maru’s relatives state that the ward boy was responsible for leaving the MRI machine on which led to his death. A police case been registered against the doctor, ward boy and ward attendant for causing death by negligence.

Dr Siddhant Shah and ward boy Vitthal Chavan have been arrested.



Maru was tending to an elderly relative at the Bai Yamunabai Laxman Nair Charitable Hospital, when a ward boy asked him to take the metallic oxygen cylinder inside the MRI room.

Due to the magnetic field of the MRI machine, any metal objects such as jewelry, clothing with metallic fibers, zippers, buttons, underwire and even medical implants are not allowed inside the MRI room if the machine is switched on.

"When we told him that metallic things aren't allowed inside an MRI room, he said 'sab chalta hai, hamara roz ka kaam hai' (it's okay, we do it every day). He also said that the machine was switched off. The doctor as well as the technician didn't say anything," said Harish Solanki, Maru's relative, who was present at the hospital.

"As soon as he entered with the cylinder, it turned out that the machine was on," Solanki said. A strong magnetic field pulled the oxygen cylinder towards it along with the man, eyewitnesses described.

His hand got stuck in the machine along with the cylinder, triggering a massive oxygen leak.



When Solanki and the ward boys pulled him out of the machine, Maru’s body was swollen and bleeding heavily. They rushed him to the emergency ward but he died within minutes.

"It's because of their carelessness that he died," Solanki blamed the staff, demanding action from the erring doctor and the ward boy responsible.

Local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Member of Parliament (MP) Mangal Lodha has demanded compensation and stern action.

 

This article originally appears on NDTV.