Prosecution asks court to convict 13 defendants in Salt oxygen outage case

Court sets November 18 to hear closing arguments of defence team

By Rana Husseini - Nov 04,2021 - Last updated at Nov 04,2021

Members of gendarmerie stand guard outside the New Salt Hospital in Salt on March 13, 2021 (AFP photo)

AMMAN — The Amman Court of First Instance’s prosecution on Thursday asked the court to convict 13 defendants on all charges in the oxygen outage case at the New Salt Public Hospital that claimed the lives of 10 patients in March.

The defendants, including the hospital director and other employees, are standing trial in the case on 10 counts of causing death by association and for violating articles 343 and 76 of the Penal Code.

Among the defendants standing trial are the former secretary general of the Ministry of Health, assistant secretary general for Health and Technical Affairs, assistant secretary general for Services Affairs, and the director of the Biomedical Engineering Department.

The defendants pleaded not guilty during their opening trial in April.

The court set November 18 to hear the closing arguments of the defence team.

Over 75 witnesses and experts testified during the 10-month trial on matters related to prior knowledge of the Prevention Department in the Civil Defence Department and the contents of the hospitals and staff cameras on March 13, the day of the incident.

The court also heard expert and witness testimonies on the duration of oxygen disruption, functionality of the gas system, the deteriorating health status of the patients affected, chest diseases, Building Management System (BMS) and government autopsy results.

The prosecution office indicated in its investigation that all the defendants failed to follow proper cautions and considerations of laws and regulations, whether they were from the Ministry of Health or affiliated with the hospital administration.

This, according to the prosecution office, resulted in an oxygen outage at the ICU for around one hour, which ultimately resulted in several deaths and further health complications to the patients who were at the unit on March 13.

Government health officials confirmed that all the deceased in this incident were COVID-19 patients and all were above the age of 40.

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