Kathmandu, July 14: Three people who attempted self-immolation over the past week have died while undergoing treatment at hospitals in Kathmandu.
The deceased have been identified as 45-year-old Ashwin Raut of Buddhanagar, Kathmandu, Ganesh Nepali of Mugu, and Bibek Mandal of Sarlahi. Raut and Nepali died at Bir Hospital, while Mandal died at Kirtipur Hospital’s Burn Center.
Raut attempted self-immolation inside the kitchen of his home. Police rescued him immediately and rushed him to Bir Hospital, where he was treated in the intensive care unit. More than 50 percent of his body had sustained burn injuries. He died last Saturday.
Ganesh Nepali attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol over himself outside the Department of Passports in Tripureshwor on Thursday. He was rescued shortly after the incident and admitted to Bir Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Bibek Mandal, who had also attempted self-immolation, died at around 2 am on Monday while receiving treatment at the Kirtipur Burn Hospital. Hospital Director Dr Kiran Nakarmi confirmed his death.
Mandal had been airlifted to Kathmandu by helicopter on Friday and admitted to the burn hospital at around 7:30 pm the same day.
According to the latest data from the Integrated Health Information Management Section under the Department of Health Services, a total of 37,438 burn injury patients have been recorded at health facilities across the country.
Despite the growing number of burn cases, Nepal continues to face a severe shortage of specialists needed for burn treatment, including plastic and reconstructive surgeons, burn specialists, general surgeons and physiotherapists. The number of registered plastic surgeons, who play the primary role in treating severe burn injuries, remains critically low.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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