A pall of gloom descended on the ground floor at the Burns ward at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon. Three-year-old Sanjana, who had been rescued from a building collapse in Ejipura on Monday, died of multiple organ failure caused by burns injuries at 4.45pm.
While Sanjana had been pulled out of the debris three hours after the incident to much cheers, her parents had been killed in the tragedy. Sanjana herself had suffered 60% burns.
Until Thursday afternoon, Sanjana’s relatives and well-wishers had remained on tenterhooks, hoping and praying for the child to recover. A family friend, James Karthik, who was among those watching over the child, had told TNM, "I have seen her since she was born. She was always a cheerful girl.”
While Sanjana had initially remained stable after the incident, doctors’ saw her taking a turn for the worse on Thursday.
"She was stable since the time she was brought here. She laughed and talked normally but burns like this usually worsen after 48 hours and it appears that it has become more severe,” Dr KT Ramesh, Head of Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns at Victoria Hospital, had told TNM on Thursday morning.
“The burns are deep and it is difficult for someone as young as her to recover as her immunity is low,” the doctor had said.
For Sanjana’s relatives, the three days since the building collapse had been a harrowing time, as they had to look after the child, as well as deal with the endless line of media persons and public officials eager to keep track of Sanjana’s condition. At the same time, the family also had to hold the last rites of Sanjana’s parents – 28-year-old Shravan and 26-year-old Ashwini.
Though the government had promised to take care of the child’s treatment and all expenses associated with it, the relatives’ only concern was for the child to recover. For them, Sanjana’s death on Thursday came as a bitter end to the entire episode.
Two more victims of the building collapse, 31-year-old Janaki and 18-year-old Dileep, suffered 26% and 30% burns respectively, and are currently under treatment at Victoria Hospital.