The death toll in the Chhindwara cough syrup incident has risen to 16 following the report of a new casualty on Tuesday afternoon, according to a senior district official. As a result, the total number of deaths attributed to the alleged consumption of Coldrif cough syrup has reached 19 in the state, with two fatalities reported in Betul district and one in Pandhurna district. A two-year-old girl from Junnardeo in Chhindwara passed away while receiving treatment at Government Medical College in Nagpur. She had been admitted there for over a week, the official added. “To date, 16 children have succumbed in the cough syrup case in Chhindwara. This afternoon, another girl child, aged 2, died around 12:30 pm, bringing the death toll to 16. The girl had been hospitalized at Government Medical College, Nagpur for more than seven days. Currently, five children are receiving treatment at GMC Nagpur, and all are in critical condition,” stated Dhirendra Singh, Additional District Magistrate (ADM).
The ADM also mentioned that a team comprising three doctors and three executive magistrates from Chhindwara is present in Nagpur at various hospitals, where they are overseeing the treatment of the children and maintaining constant communication with the hospital management.In the meantime, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced that the state government would cover all expenses for the children receiving treatment in Nagpur due to kidney infections caused by the cough syrup. A joint team of executive magistrates and doctors has also been dispatched to Nagpur for health monitoring. “Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has instructed that the state government will bear the full cost of treatment for nine children suffering from kidney infections due to cough syrup, who are being treated in different hospitals in Nagpur. A joint team of executive magistrates and doctors has been sent to Nagpur to ensure adequate medical arrangements and ongoing monitoring of the affected children,” the Chief Minister’s Office posted on X.
