LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz took notice of the death of an autistic child after falling into a manhole of the Children’s Hospital in Lahore and issued directions for an impartial investigation to fix the responsibility for the negligence.

An inquiry report conducted by the Children’s Hospital seems to be a set of confessions as it confirms that the manhole was uncovered, rescue operation was launched by the institute’s sewer men instead of calling the Rescue 1122, and most importantly the delayed efforts to save the child’s life.

Headed by the hospital’s radiology department head Prof Dr Abid Ali Qureshi, the five-member committee comprised Additional Medical Superintendents (AMSs) Dr Nasim Baig, Dr Syed Ali Abuzar, Deputy Medical Superintendent (DMS) Dr Madiha and Associate Professor Dr Ayesha Farid.

An in-house inquiry fails’ to fix responsibility

“The manhole was uncovered and the sewer man could not see anything at first look and then he went inside the manhole and still could not able to see anything,” reads the report.

It further says the specialised safety tools were brought upon and the three-year-old child, Bsim Khan was found and retrieved by the sewer man.

The autistic child was immediately rushed to the emergency department where he efforts were made to resuscitate him, but he could not survive, the report says.

It says the child was brought to the hospital by his father Ikhlaq Ahmad with provisional diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

The report says that Basim’s mother approached the hospital’s security guard at noon when he went missing. The security guard looked around and informed area supervisor who also started searching for the child, it adds.

The report concludes without fixing the responsibility for the child’s death as it merely elaborated the incident.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024