Court hears prosecution witness in Salt hospital oxygen outage case

Court hears prosecution witness in Salt hospital oxygen outage case

AMMAN “” The Amman Court of First Instance on Sunday heard the testimony of one prosecution witness in the case of the oxygen outage at the New Salt Public Hospital that claimed the lives of seven patients last month.

The defendants, including the hospital director and other employees, are standing trial in the case on seven counts of causing death by association and for violating articles 343 and 76 of the Penal Code.

The defendants were released on bail by the court over the past few weeks because the law stipulates that they cannot be detained for more than one month based on the misdemeanour charges they face, their lawyers told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

The defendants, who pleaded not guilty during their opening trial last week, were tried via a TV feed as a precautionary health measure due to the pandemic.

Among the defendants standing trial were the secretary general of the Ministry of Health, assistant secretary general for Health and Technical Affairs, assistant secretary general for Services Affairs, and the director of the Biomedical Engineering Department.

Over 70 witnesses and experts are expected to testify on matters related to prior knowledge of the Prevention Department in the Civil Defence Department,