Tragedy at Havana Mental Hospital

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Jan. 15 — A tragedy has occurred at the main Havana Psychiatric Hospital with 26 patients dying, possibly from hypothermia during one digit cold this past week, informed the Cuban Public Health Ministry on Friday.

The ministry said the exact cause of the deaths at the 2,500 patient facility is still under investigation and that “deficiencies were found in measures taken at the hospital.”

The public announcement stated that the deaths were “linked to the prolonged low temperatures that reached 3.6 degrees C (38 F) . . . and to risk factors peculiar to mentally ill patients and to natural biological deterioration and complications from chronic diseases present in many of them, mainly cardiovascular problems and cancer.

“Those primarily responsible for these events will be put on trial,” concludes the statement.