A woman died and at least two others, including a child, were injured after a part of the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam collapsed on Thursday, police said here.
The injured -- an 11-year-old girl and a hospital staff member --were admitted to the casualty department shortly after the incident.
The woman was pulled out from the debris more than two hours later and was declared dead.
Her identity was later confirmed as Bindu, a resident of Thalayolaparambu. She was at the hospital as a bystander for her daughter, who is being treated there.
The child, identified as Aleena Vincent from Meenangadi in Wayanad, had been standing next to her grandmother, who was undergoing treatment in Ward 10.
Aleena's injuries are said to be not serious.
Amal Pradeep, a hospital casualty staff member, suffered minor injuries after being hit by a trolley during the evacuation.
Officials said the collapsed portion was part of the bathroom complex of Ward 14 in a three-storey block.
The hospital authorities described it as an unused section, though a bystander woman later claimed it had been in use.
Health Minister Veena George and Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan visited the site soon after the incident.
They claimed that the damaged section was an old, disused toilet area in a block that housed three wards.
One of the bystander women disputed the minister's claim and said it was not an unused area. "No one told us not to use the toilets there," she told reporters.
The opposition Congress party accused the ministers of trying to downplay the seriousness of the accident.
"Before even checking if anyone was trapped under the debris, ministers tried to downplay the gravity of the incident," said senior Congress leader and Kottayam MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, speaking to a news channel.
"This reveals serious negligence. The woman was pulled out only after two to two-and-a-half hours," he added.
Congress leaders also alleged delays in launching the rescue operation. They said search efforts only began seriously after relatives of the missing woman raised concerns.
Rescue teams from the fire and police departments were deployed to search the debris.
As a precaution, around 100 patients from Wards 10, 11, and 14, along with their bystanders, were relocated.
Ministers George and Vasavan said patients from six wards would be shifted to the newly built surgical block and confirmed that the affected ward would be closed entirely.
Health Department Additional Chief Secretary Rajan Khobragade also reached the site to oversee the response.
Opposition UDF leaders, including MP Francis George, MLAs Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Chandy Oommen visited the hospital.
The BJP demanded the resignation of Health Minister Veena George following the tragic death of the woman.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government was playing with people's lives and accused the minister of being responsible for the growing failures in the state's healthcare system.
Meanwhile, the UDF has called for a judicial inquiry into the incident. UDF leaders said there were serious lapses in the way the situation was handled. They alleged that rescue work only began two hours after the collapse, and only after the victim's relatives raised concerns. They also accused the authorities of not acting immediately.
UDF leaders who visited the site said two ministers who reached the hospital soon after the incident tried to downplay its seriousness.
They claimed the woman's life could have been saved if the rescue operation had started on time.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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