Minister sore over televised Savar tragedy

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 April 2013, 12:13 PM
Updated : 27 April 2013, 12:23 PM

The Health Minister has advised television journalists to think about the ‘impact’ before showing images of death and injuries in an incident like Savar’s.

“What I have seen in television reports was difficult for me, even though I am a trauma specialist … think about the common people,” AFM Ruhal Haque said at a press briefing after visiting the injured at a Dhaka hospital on Saturday.

Rescuers have so far retrieved 333 bodies from the debris of Wednesday’s nine-storied building collapse. At least 670 rescued people are receiving treatment at different hospitals.

More than 20 private televisions have been covering the worst-ever building collapse of the country live, along with other media.

“I request them (televisions) not to show the dead bodies and the injured like this (the way they are showing now),” the minister said as he mentioned that the TV news channels were beaming pictures of blood-soaked dead bodies and human limbs crushed under the debris.

“Discuss among you as to what and how you will shoot and show,” he said advising the electronic media to watch coverage by CNN and BBC of incidents like the recent Boston blasts.

“A henna applied palm trapped in the debris was shown in a way that was very difficult for me to see. Being a trauma specialist, I have amputated many hands and legs in my career,” the minister, who is an orthopaedic surgeon by training, said.

“This type of coverage can destabilise one mentally,” he said.

He also criticised some television channels for ‘not verifying’ before telecasting stories.
“Last night, Ekattor Television in a talk show said there is scarcity of medicines. But we have stockpiles of drugs in Savar hospitals. We have supplied double the demand. I talked to them (doctors in Savar). No one says there is a dearth. We have enough blood, enough oxygen. We have deployed an agent of the government’s oxygen supplier. They are instructed to supply any amount.”
He urged all to talk with the civil surgeon who is coordinating the treatment in the field for getting the ‘government version’ before broadcasting a story.
The minister assured that government would provide Bangladesh’s ‘best treatment’ to the injured ‘as long as they need.’
He said the government was monitoring the treatment round-with-clock through its control room.