At this hospital in Bihar, earthquake patients were marked with 'bhukamp' stickers

Darbhanga, Bihar: At a hospital in Bihar, people injured in the earthquake that struck Nepal and parts of India on Saturday were branded with stickers on their forehead and set aside for a separate ward.

Stickers with the word "bhukamp" or earthquake written on them were pasted on patients at the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital, for identification, said hospital staff.

"We want to come out of the trauma of the earthquake. This sticker makes us nervous...why have we been marked like this?" said a man being treated for a leg wound.

After visuals on television of patients with stickers on their foreheads in a separate ward triggered outrage, hospital superintendent Shankar Jha apologised, saying, "If my staff has done something like this, I condemn it and I will put an immediate stop to it."

The hospital had the tags removed on Tuesday evening. Fifteen earthquake survivors are being treated in the hospital.

"I asked the hospital superintendent about this and directed him to get it removed at once," Baidyanath Sahni, the state minister overseeing relief work in Darbhanga district, said.

Sahni said he had asked the superintendent to find out who was responsible for the stickers.

Over 60 people have been killed in Bihar in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday. Over 5,000 have died in Nepal, where India and other countries have mounted herculean relief and rescue efforts.

Meanwhile, two Central ministers-- Ananth Kumar and Radhamohan Singh-- arrived in Bihar to oversee relief operations for earthquake victims.

The two ministers, who have come to Bihar on instruction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, went straight to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) to meet those injured in the April 25 earthquake.

Earlier, it was announced that Union Health minister J P Nadda would also accompany them but he could not make it. Senior BJP leaders Sushil Kumar Modi and Nand Kishore Yadav accompanied them.

The Union ministers went around wards in PMCH and enquired about the medical facilities provided to the injured. Asked whether proper arrangements had been made in PMCH, Radhamohan Singh said everybody knows the condition of the hospital "but we have to ensure best in the given situation only."

In reply to a question on Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital allegedly pasting "Bhukamp" (earthquake) sticker on forehead of patients injured in the quake, Singh said "Nothing is hidden about what is happening in Bihar. But, in this hour of distress everybody has to work together."

The two ministers along with Sushil Modi and Nand Kishore Yadav then left for Raxual by helicopter to oversee relief work at Raxual in East Champaran district.

Sushil Modi told reporters that the ministers would later meet the Chief Minister.