Twenty beggars, housed in a government-run relief centre in Bengaluru, have died in the last two days due to various ailments, including gastroenteritis, officials said on Thursday.
Six of the 15 inmates, who were admitted to the isolation hospital with severe gastroenteritis on Thursday, succumbed in the morning while three others developed complications at the centre itself and died on way to the hospital in the evening, sources told PTI.
Eleven inmates of the beggars' relief centre, the only one in Bangalore which houses as many as 2,500 beggars, had died on Wednesday.
"The worst hygiene conditions at the centre and negligence of the authorities are responsible for the deaths. They allowed things to worsen and immediate medical attention was not provided," doctors at the hospital said. Meanwhile, some more inmates have been admitted to the hospital with "severe stomach and other infections".
The officials at the Centre were tightlipped about the number of those rushed to the hospital on Thursday. Meanwhile, social welfare authorities sought to play down the incident, saying many of the inmates were "suffering from old age related ailments which resulted in their deaths".
The authorities, who visited the centre, said various steps had been initiated including a thorough cleaning of the centre and providing potable water and medical aid for the inmates.
Social Welfare Minister D Sudhakar paid a visit to the centre on Thursday and ordered a probe into the incident.
