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Coroner says hotel manager’s negligence led to guest’s death
View(s):A hotel manager in the suburbs of Colombo who prevented a seriously ill person being removed to hospital until his relations arrived, was severely warned by Colombo Additional City Coroner, Ashroff Rumi last Friday.
He also directed that the hotel which is located on an island in the Bolgoda Lake should have adequate facilities including the service of a doctor at nights and the services of a boat to transfer any patients if any of the guests fall ill.
The warning was issued after a newly married man died soon after his wedding due to excessive internal bleeding, two weeks ago.
The deceased Wikramaratnage Suresh Nishantha (34), a chef who worked at a leading hotel in Saudi Arabia, has been honeymooning in Club Penthouse Island Resort at Bolgoda.
Giving evidence before the coroner his widowed wife Nayanika Liyanage, an architect, said that following the wedding ceremony the couple arrived at the hotel which they booked on January 15.
“We were at the hotel when the incident took place. My husband complained that he couldn’t see anything and that he felt a heaviness in his head. He asked me to ask the manager to take him to hospital,” she said.
Ms. Liyanage said that despite her request the manager refused to take the sick man to hospital. The manager has asked her to stay till a relative of hers had come.
“My husband started to vomit and the manager asked me if he had taken any drugs. I replied saying that I was not aware of any such thing,” she said adding that the manager has informed her that there is no boat to take the patient from the island and that there was no vehicle to take the patient from there to the hospital.Later together with the brother of the dead man, the distressed bride had taken him to Kalubowila Hospital and then rushed him to the Colombo National Hospital,
Even though the doctors have tried to save the person’s life he psuccumbed to his illness the next morning. The doctors had said if the patient was taken to hospital at the time he made the complaint his life could have been saved.
The post mortem inquiry was held at the hospital mortuary by JMO Dr. Ajith Tennakoon who concluded that death was caused by internal bleeding in the brain and high blood pressure.
Additional City Coroner Ashroff Rumi ordered the Piliyandala police to notify Ricky Herald, the manager of the hotel that death occurred due to his negligence and ordered him to appear at the Colombo National Hospital’s Coroner’s Court last Friday.
(CS)