Panic has gripped the Manzini region of eSwatini as over 100 patients broke out of the country’s only psychiatric hospital during a strike action.
The patients having been on the loose for six days now after having left the centre on Monday while nurses at the centre embarked on a protest action over shortage of medication and faulty ablushion facilities.
Health Minister Dr Lizzie Nkosi said only a few patients returned on their own and pleaded with relatives of the majority to assist search for them and return them to the centre.
She said they have already roped in the police to assist in the location and apprehension of these patients as they may pause a threat to members of the public, especially around the hub region of the country, Manzini, where the hospital is located.
“It was wrong of staff members to open wards and gates at the centre even if they were on strike. These patients have serious mental conditions that require then to be admitted and put on medication continuously. The ministry has launched investigation into the realese of the patients, ” she said.
The official said the issue of ablishion has since been resolved.
The hospital has a capacity to admit 220 patients at a given time and there has always been cases of overcrowding there.
NSM/abj/APA