A patient admitted to the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences was found dead on Monday.

Seventy-six-year-old Lallu Sarki, a local resident of Tatopani Rural Municipality-5, who was admitted to the hospital six days ago, was found dead near Jugadkhola, a river close to the hospital.

According to the police, the victim had left the hospital premises at midnight on Sunday.

“It is suspected that the victim died after falling down while walking along the river banks and became unconscious,” said police inspector Yam Bahadur Budhamagar. The victim’s walking cane has also been found at the incident spot.

A team of police personnel from the District Police Office was deployed immediately after receiving the information about the missing patient.

The victim’s family have voiced their concern about the failure of the hospital to assure the patient’s safety. “The lack of concern from the hospital staff to the security guards is a huge problem,” the family said.

Sarki was undergoing medical treatment on the second floor of the hospital. Sarki’s wife, who had been attending him at the hospital, was also unaware of Sarki leaving the hospital.

Sarki had to pass through three different gates to exit the hospital, but he wasn’t stopped in any of them.

However, the hospital claims that they had questioned Sarki’s whereabouts to his wife at 11:45pm, who had then told the hospital staff that he had stepped out to use the bathroom.

The hospital staff started a search for the missing patient after he was not found in the bathroom.

The victim’s family had travelled from Kathmandu to Jumla only two weeks ago.

The victim’s body was discovered by his relatives, who had reached Jumla in the wee hours of Monday after learning of the incident.

The victim’s brother has held the hospital responsible for Sarki’s death.