32-year-old Rajesh Maru worked as a salesman at a garments shop in Mumbai.
Highlights
- Rajesh Maru was with an elderly relative who had come for an MRI scan
- Mr Maru died within 10 minutes of being sucked into the MRI machine
- The incident occurred at the BYL Nair Charitable Hospital
A man got sucked into an MRI machine at a Mumbai hospital and died minutes after he walked into the room carrying an oxygen cylinder. The family says it was a case of massive negligence, since the machine was turned on when it was supposed to be switched off and a ward boy, attached to the MRI section, had assured them it was safe to go inside.
Any object containing metal - including jewellery, clothing with metallic fibers, zippers, buttons, underwire and even medical implants - aren't allowed inside the MRI room.
The shocking incident occurred on Saturday evening, when Rajesh Maru, 32, was attending to an elderly relative, who had come for an MRI scan at the BYL Nair Charitable Hospital. The family says the ward boy had asked Mr Maru to take the cylinder inside.
"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 fine, 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 Mr Maru's relative Harish Solanki, whose mother was the patient.
"As soon as Rajesh entered with the cylinder, it turned out that the machine was on," Mr Solanki said. The metal in the cylinder activated the machine's monstrous magnetic field, pulling in both the man and the cylinder with great force, eyewitnesses said. His hand got stuck in the machine along with the cylinder, triggering a massive oxygen leak.
Mr Solanki and the ward boys managed to pull him out of the machine but his body was swollen and he was bleeding heavily. He was rushed to the emergency ward where he died within 10 minutes.
"It's because of their carelessness that Rajesh died," Mr Solanki said, blaming the staff for negligence and demanding action against the erring doctor and ward boy.
Local BJP lawmaker MP Lodha has demanded compensation and stern action against those responsible for Mr Maru's death.
A police case has been registered against Dr Siddhant Shah, ward boy Vitthal Chavan and ward attendant Sunita Surve for causing death by negligence. Dr Siddhant Shah and ward boy Vitthal Chavan have been arrested. The hospital is conducting an inquiry and action will be taken, said Dean Dr Ramesh Bharmal.