A probe has been ordered into the disappearance of a COVID-19 patient from a hospital (Representational)

Mumbai:

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday dismissed reports that six bodies of COVID-19 victims have gone missing from various hospitals run by it, saying relatives of five patients, of the 6, have been informed and action has been taken as per protocol with the help of police.

Probe into a “missing” body from Rajawadi hospital is still on, the BMC said.

Separately, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has ordered a probe into incidents of two coronavirus positive patients who have reportedly gone missing from civic-run Shatabdi and Rajawadi hospitals.

An 80-year-old patient had recently gone mission from Shatabdi hospital in suburban Kandivali. His body was found lying near Borivali railway station, less than a kilometre away from the hospital, on Monday night.

Another COVID-19 patient has been missing from Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar and still remains untraced.

Ms Pednekar, who visited Shatabdi hospital, said several incidents of COVID-19 patients running away from hospitals have come to the fore recently.

She directed BMC administration to probe these incidents reported from Shatabdi and Rajawadi hospitals, an official release said.

Kishori Pednekar has also asked doctors concerned to check the CCTV footage at Shatabdi Hospital and take necessary precautions to avoid recurrence of such incidents.

Prima facie, security guards of a private company have been held responsible for the Shatabdi hospital incident, the statement said.

In another release, the BMC dismissed reports that six bodies of COVID-19 patients have gone missing so far from civic-run hospitals like KEM, Sion, Trauma Care, Nair, Shatabdi and Rajawadi in Mumbai.

“In five such incidents, the dead have been identified and their relatives have been informed or necessary action has been taken as per protocol with the help of police,” the release said.

These incidents happened mainly due to delay on part of relatives in claiming the bodies or when they are unreachable, it stated.