Plane crash victims will get best possible treatment: Health minister

The government is giving utmost priority to the treatment of the survivors of US-Bangla plane crash, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim has said after visiting survivor Shahreen Ahmed at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital or DMCH.

An eight-member team consisting burn specialists and orthopaedics was sent to Nepal yesterday, the minister told reporters on Friday.

“We are ready here to treat the victims. Our cabins are ready,” he said citing an order of the prime minister.

Shahreen is one of the 10 Bangladeshis who survived the US-Bangla plane crash on Monday and was under treatment at the Kathmandu Medical College Hospital until Thursday.

The minister requested everyone not to crowd the hospital to help Shahreen recover quickly.

“By the grace of god, she has survived and is taking treatment. I would request all of you to stay outside the hospital. Doctors and patient’s relatives get annoyed when too many visitors are around,” Nasim said.

A medical board has been formed to decide on Shahreen’s treatment, DMCH burn unit Coordinator Samanta Lal Sen said. “Our team is working in Kathmandu. We are constantly communicating with them.”

Two of the eight victims who are under treatment in Nepal are in critical condition, said Prof AHM Enayet Hussain, acting director general at the Directorate General of Health Services.

“I would suggest the three who have arrived today to get admitted here (DMCH burn unit). We are trying to bring back the rest,” he said.

On Mar 12, the BS211 aircraft of the US-Bangla Airlines crashed while trying to land at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport with 71 people on board.

There were 26 Bangladeshis, including four cabin crew members, among the 49 people who died in the crash.

Among the Bangladeshi survivors, Shahreen was the first one to return to Bangladesh on Thursday. She is suffering from burn wounds and cracks on her leg bones, doctors said.