Beijing - An electric shock killed a swine flu patient while
she was taking a shower at a hospital in eastern China's Hangzhou
city, state media reported on Friday.
An autopsy on Lou Yihong, 34, who was under treatment for H1N1
influenza at the No 1 People's Hospital in Hangzhou's Xiaoshan
district, found that she died accidentally from electrocution early
Wednesday.
'The patient died of electrocution caused by a leakage of
electricity from electrical circuits in her ward lavatory when she
was taking a shower,' the official Xinhua news agency quoted police
and health officials as saying in a joint statement.
More than 50 of Lou's relatives protested at the hospital on
Wednesday and Thursday, causing minor damage to the hospital entrance
and an ambulance, the agency said.
Some of her relatives had discussed compensation for Lou's death
with hospital staff, it said.
Lou had shown signs of recovery since she was admitted on June 23
and her temperature was normal for the week before she died, earlier
reports said.
China has confirmed 915 H1N1 infections, with 296 under current
hospital treatment and six people quarantined at home, the health
ministry said. Another 612 people had recovered fully from the virus,
it said.
China has so far reported no confirmed deaths from H1N1 but health
ministry official Liang Wannian earlier this week said China's rising
number of cases made it 'very likely' that it would report its first
death from the virus in the near future.
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