6 dead, 1,200 sick as diarrhoea hits Doda in Jammu region

JAMMU - Hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district witnessed chaotic scenes as diarrhoea claimed six lives in the past two days and affected over 1,200 people, officials said Sunday.

Hospitals overflowed with patients as a large number of people continued to report symptoms of diarrhoea. While the patients numbered over 1,200, the number of beds the hospitals offer is a mere 100, officials said.

Six people, including five children, died of the disease that has assumed proportions of an epidemic in the area. Several people were said to be critical.

The government rushed two teams of doctors from Jammu to Doda along with medicines to control the disease and save lives, Doda legislator Abdul Majid Wani said.

“But at the moment it is chaos. Doctors and medicines have come but the situation is far beyond control,” he said.

Jammu Health Services Director Jasbir Singh has also reached Doda, some 175 km from here, to supervise the efforts.