Malad victims homeless, stay put at hospital

Mumbai: Doctors of the civic-run hospital where the victims of the Malad wall collapse are recovering said that  half of these patients are fit to be discharged but for fear of becoming homeless, have requested that they be allowed to stay as indoor patients until such time they find alternative accommodation.

Those who sustained minor injuries are fit to be discharged but the hospital authorities have allowed them to stay a little longer till they make alternative living arrangements.

Kandivali’s civic-run Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital is treating the highest number of injured persons i.e. 51. Doctors said that none of the injured is serious but five require orthopaedic surgery for bone injuries and fractures. The Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Hospital in Jogeshwari is treating 10 patients, Cooper Hospital in Juhu is treating four, and KEM Hospital in Parel three.

Dr Pradeep Angre, medical superintendent of the Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, said, “Most of the patients are well and recuperating and don’t need to be in hospital. During the counselling carried out by our doctors and social workers, many patients expressed anxiety about being homeless.”

Besides suffering physical pain, many are in shock of having lost their loved ones and their homes. “We have allowed them to stay a little longer so that their friends and relatives have time to arrange for some place for them to return to,” he said.