Pakistan

Behind the scenes: At PIMS, 300 blood bags allegedly go missing

Four critically-wounded men still struggling.

Photo: Sehrish Wasih/sehrish Wasif April 11, 2014 1 min read

Broken chairs outside the PIMS mortuary meant few can even sit and wait comfortably. PHOTO: SEHRISH WASIH

ISLAMABAD:

As another victim of the Sabzi Mandi died at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), the death toll rose to 25 on Thursday.

Muhammad Yaqoob, a 39-year-old from Charsadda, was brought to the hospital in a critical condition and died on Thursday, said Pims spokesperson Dr Ayesha Eshani. The body was handed over to his relatives, who have transported it back home, she added.

However, Pims sources told The Express Tribune that a contributing cause of his death was non-availability of blood.

The sources said Yaqoob has lost a significant amount of blood and was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). One of the doctors treating Yaqoob informed his family members to arrange blood. The doctor was told that someone had already set out to obtain blood from a nearby private hospital, recounted the sources.

“Unfortunately, the person who went out to arrange blood for Yaqoob could not get back in time, due to which he died,” said the sources.

Accounting for the Pims blood bank, the same sources said that the hospital had collected over 300 blood units from people who donated voluntarily blood for the blast victims on Wednesday, which begs the question, where did all this blood go?

Meanwhile, Dr Eshani informed that 33 injured victims of the blast are being treated at the hospital, four of whom are in critical states.

“Of these four, Javed, 35, is on a ventilator and hanging on for dear life,” she said.

Talking to The Express Tribune about the incident, the injured seemed more worried about their families than their own wellbeing.

“I fear for my family, especially my two-year-old daughter. I was their only source of income and food,” said fruit vendor Jamil, 23. A resident of Ganjmandi in Rawalpindi, he has been the family’s sole breadwinner since his father’s demise. A vendor at Sabzi Mandi, I-11 for the past 10 years, he suffered a fractured hand alongside other lesser injuries.

Another fruit vendor who sustained injuries is 18-year-old Raees Khan. He desperately said, “I want to recover as soon as possible, so that I can start earning to feed my family.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2014.