Power outage at KGH leaves patients in the dark and heat
Power outage at KGH leaves patients in the dark and heat
A power outage at King George Hospital disrupts care, plunging most wards into darkness for hours while ICU and NICU stay powered; officials expect restoration by nightfall.
A power outage struck King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, leaving patients and attendants scrambling as lights and fans went out for several hours.
Hospital officials said the outage stemmed from a disturbance in electrical wiring during routine maintenance near the Critical Care Unit. ICU, NICU, and a few other critical wards retained power, but most sections were plunged into darkness and heat.
The blackout forced relatives to fan patients by hand and rely on the glow of mobile phones as healthcare workers tried to monitor conditions in stifling heat.
Power supply was expected to be restored by nightfall, according to KGH authorities, who activated contingency measures and back-up generators to keep essential services running.
The incident has drawn political reactions, with opposition leaders slamming the government over what they describe as negligence of public health. The hospital administration, meanwhile, said a patient’s death is not linked to the power outage and rejected the allegations.
As the city awaits full restoration, doctors and nurses urged patience and stressed that staff are prioritizing critical cases until power is fully restored.
