Guest worker treated for starvation succumbs at Chennai hosp

Guest worker treated for starvation succumbs at Chennai hosp 

02.10.2024

Chennai : A 35-year-old man — one of five guest workers from West Bengal who collapsed due to starvation at Dr MGR Chennai Central Railway Station a fortnight ago — died on Monday despite intensive care at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). Doctors said acute renal failure, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and sepsis caused the death of the worker, Samar Khan. Twelve workers came to Chennai in search of agricultural work but decided to leave as they did not find jobs. On Sept 15, when they were at MGR Central Railway Station waiting to board a train for their home state, five people who had not eaten for a long time fainted. 

GRP identified them as Asit Pandit (47), Ganesh Midha (52), Manik Ghoroi (50), Samar Khan and Sathya Pandit (42), rushed them to RGGGH, where doctors said some of them hadn’t eaten for nearly six days. On admission, they had low blood pressure and their levels of creatinine — a waste product that comes from the breakdown of muscle tissue and the digestion of protein in food — were high, indicating poor kidney function. They were wheeled into the ICU and treated since Sept 16 for acute gastroenteritis and renal failure.