Mumbai, Tuesday 04 August 2009: Terming the death of a swine flu infected girl in Pune as “unfortunate”, Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has said negligence on part of the private hospital, which treated the 14-year-old, was to blame for it.

“This incident is really unfortunate. I feel there was total negligence on part of those who admitted her to the hospital and negligence on part of the hospital,” the chief minister, who discussed the issue with senior health officials here on Monday night, said.

Health authorities would also inquire the reasons as to why proper treatment was not being given to the patient, he said.

The victim, Reeda Shaikh, died at Pune’s Jehangir Hospital on Monday, becoming India’s first swine flu fatality.

The girl was admitted to the private hospital a week ago with symptoms of the disease. Chavan also appealed people to co-operate with the health officials and not fall prey to any rumours.

He directed officials to take all possible steps to effectively deal with the swine flu cases that has crossed the 100 mark in Maharashtra, most of them being from Pune.