Indian man dies after being trapped in MRI machine

An MRI scan. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

NEW DELHI — A man in the Indian city of Mumbai died Saturday night after being sucked into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, an accident that has sparked concerns about the chaotic and sometimes dangerous conditions in India’s government-run hospitals.

Relatives said that Rajesh Maru had entered an MRI testing room at the hospital holding a cylinder of oxygen, after a hospital staff member gave him the okay to proceed. They didn’t know that the machine was turned on, and Maru was pulled into it and trapped by the machine’s magnetic force, according to local news reports.

Maru died within minutes, his hand trapped against the machine by the leaking oxygen tank. He was freed and taken to the emergency room in 10 minutes but pronounced dead on arrival.

A postmortem report said he died from excessive air entering his lung, according to the Indian Express. Authorities are investigating the incident.

Three people — a doctor, and two hospital assistants — have been arrested on suspicion of negligence.

“It is a tragic incident and we will cooperate with police officials,” Ramesh Bharmal, the dean of Bai Yamunabai Laxman Nair Charitable Hospital, told NDTV news channel.

MRI machines work through extremely powerful magnets and radio waves that scan the body and give an image of internal tissue. When the machine is on, all metal objects must be kept away from it.

Government hospitals in India are often short-staffed, overcrowded and ill-equipped to deal with the huge flow of patients seeking help. Patients’ relatives are often asked to help hospital staff by carrying stretchers and equipment.

The hospital’s staff said it was unclear why Maru went so close to the machine holding the canister, and why the machine was switched on while he was there, according to reports.

Family members said the hospital tried to shift the blame. “The ward boy asked him to help. They said it was okay... Instead of taking responsibility, the hospital workers scolded us for Rajesh having gone too close to the MRI machine with the cylinder in his hand,” Priyanka Solanki, Maru’s sister, told the Indian Express.

The chief minister of the state of Maharashtra has announced a compensation of around $7,850 for the 32-year-old’s family.

Accidents involving MRI machines are rare, but they do happen occasionally.

In 2014, two hospital workers were stuck in an MRI machine for four hours in New Delhi also because of an oxygen cylinder. In 2001, a 6-year-old boy in the United States died after an oxygen cylinder flew across an MRI room and damaged his skull.

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