Nurse dies after falling into basement floor of under-construction hospital in Tirur

Malappuram: The head nurse at the Tirur district hospital in Malappuram died after falling into the basement floor of an under-construction building.

Chalakkudy native T J Mini (48), wife of Vettukadavu Thoppil Anto, was injured seriously on Tuesday noon in the accident and succumbed to injuries at around 1.30 am on Wednesday.  

Mini had gone along with the nursing superintendent and a staff nurse to inspect the construction of the building for the oncology block. The inspection was part of the efforts to shift the cancer ward to this building.

Mini opened a door on the ground floor and accidentally stepped into the area that connected to the basement. There were no stairs and fell eight metres down to the basement. She was immediately moved to the casualty for primary treatment and shifted to a private hospital at Kottakkal, hospital sources said. Mini suffered severe injuries to her brain, spine and abdomen in the accident. 

"We have registered a case for unnatural death in the incident.  As per our primary knowledge, she opened an iron door that leads to the basement and was used to bring in building materials. She might have accidentally stepped into the opening talking with her subordinates expecting that there would be a parapet," an officer from Tirur police said.

Mini has been working at the district hospital for the past two years and was included in the new transfer list, hospital sources said.