Human
rights news: September 2004
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22 September 2004 |
:: NEWS :: |
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Investigation into death of 14 children from Djurkovo re-opened |
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The investigation into the death of 14 children from the Institution for mentally disabled children in Djurkovo, near Laki, has been re-opened. The children died as a result of the misery, cold and hunger in the winter of 1996-1997. Maria was the first to die on December 15 1996. Thirteen other children die in the months that follow. Their death certificates give "acute heart failure" as the cause of death. It is believed, however, that their deaths were caused by the pathology, malnutricion and cold. Some of the children agonised for over a week before they passed away. The institution used drugs past their expiry date. Thirteen and fourteen-year-olds weighed a mere 18 kg. Eighty children are living in the Djurkovo institution at present. All of them are diagnosed with severe developmental disabilities, but the facility still does not have a doctor during the night. The nearest town is 10 km away, and the institution has no ambulance. The investigation into the deaths of the 14 children was started in 1999. The new director of the Regional Investion Office Yordan Davchev has ordered that it be complted within a month. The case is against an unknown perpetrator for causing death inadvertently. Source: Sega daily |