A precarious web of electrical extension leads dangling directly above patients lying on the floor has highlighted severe overcrowding and acute safety hazards at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

On Tuesday afternoon, a visit to the third floor of the region’s primary government healthcare facility revealed a troubling scene between the medicine and radiology wards. With indoor bed capacity stretched far beyond its limits, ten to twelve patients were forced to seek treatment on the concrete floor of a busy corridor typically reserved for foot traffic and waiting families.

Suspended from a central concrete pillar using saline tubing hung a primary multi-plug adapter, connected to a power outlet inside the main medicine ward. From this single source, a chain of additional extension leads was draped over patients, including an individual suffering from jaundice, to power personal electric fans and vital medical equipment such as nebulisers.

Patients and attending relatives explained that the central extension lead was already in place when they arrived. Facing muggy corridor conditions and a complete absence of hospital-provided fans outside the main wards, families resorted to purchasing their own cooling units and relying on improvised wiring. Lacking accessible wall sockets in the hallway, patients admitted to paying unassigned or informal hospital attendants small sums of money to rig the temporary power lines from inside the ward.

Overcrowding remains a chronic challenge at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Medical staff noted that the medicine unit routinely operates at more than one and a half times its intended capacity, forcing doctors to deliver essential care in corridors to ensure no incoming patient is turned away.

Hospital authorities expressed deep concern over the improvised electrical arrangements, citing severe fire risks and potential electrocution hazards in high-traffic zones. Brigadier General Mohammad Taslim Uddin, Director of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, acknowledged the structural pressure on the institution, explaining that while the hospital is duty-bound to treat every patient who arrives, unsafe modifications by desperate families pose significant danger. He confirmed that hospital management will immediately initiate targeted drives across the premises to remove unauthorised electrical connections and enforce safety protocols.