Death in lift: Hospital adminstrator arrested

The administrator of Fortis Hospital at Nagarbhavi was arrested on Friday in connection with the death of Sachidananda Murthy, 80, who died after falling into the shaft of a lift at the hospital on Wednesday evening.

Praveen Valli, administrator at Fortis Hospital, was arrested based on the complaint filed by Murthy's son, Suhas. Valli, was in charge of the hospital, which had not appointed a lift operator. Also, there was no designated person employed to maintain the lift, a senior police officer said. The other employees are being questioned, added the officer.

Sachidananda Murthy, a resident of Vijayanagar, had taken his wife Lovely Devi to the hospital for dialysis on the day of the incident. He accidentally fell into the lift when he went back to the ground floor and pressed the lift button. The lift door suddenly opened and Murthy fell into the lift shaft. The lift car, however, was still on the third floor. Murthy sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot, the police said.