Karachi: Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was on Wednesday embroiled in a political storm following the death of a 10-month-old baby girl who was denied entry in a state-owned hospital in Karachi closed due to his visit.
The girl died after her father was allegedly denied entry by protocol and security staff at the Karachi's Civil Hospital during Bilawal's visit, media reports said. Bilawal had visited the hospital to inaugurate a newly built Trauma Centre named after his slain mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The girl's father said his child died as she did not get treatment due to the VIP protocol given to Bilawal for his hospital visit.
"First I came through bike, then on foot but was denied entry, in the meantime my baby girl died," he said.
He claimed they remained stuck in traffic due to the VIP movement and were denied entry into the hospital after reaching there with the ailing girl.
Apparently all the entry and exit points of the hospital were closed and even ambulances were not allowed to enter the hospital as Bilawal, along with the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah reached there. As the political storm kicked up in the media, Bilawal announced that he was deeply troubled by the death of the child and has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Anguished over the death, I am personally inquiring into this heartbreaking incident to ascertain what went wrong, Bilawal tweeted. Expressing grief over the incident, Bilawal's sister Bakhtawar urged all to wait for the inquiry to be completed before jumping to conclusions.
