A 51-year-old guest in a Chinese hotel was found dead on November 20 following the hotel staff's failure to deliver his life-saving medicine, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The tragic incident sparked debate on the local social media platforms and raised concerns about hotel liability.
The man, surnamed Hu, who suffered from a heart condition, had checked into the Yeste Hotel in Wuhan in Hubei province. The report mentioned that he requested his medication be fetched from another friend's home, and his friend Han Shun even delivered it earlier that day.
It's Han, who helped Hu check in at a hotel a day before, after he finished work in the district, which was reportedly far from his home. The next morning, Hu called Han and asked him to bring the medicine as he was feeling unwell.
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Considering the gravity of the situation, Han immediately arrived at the hotel with the medicine around 9.40 am (local time), and asked the front desk of the hotel to deliver the medicine to Hu's room, but the staff members reportedly refused.
Hours later, Hu was found dead by a cleaning staff member.
Hu's family has blamed the hotel staff for holding onto the medicine, but the staff responded by saying that they didn't know about the medicine and its nature, and didn't open it to protect the guest's privacy. The report doesn't mention if legal action has been taken in this case.
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The incident has sparked a heated debate about the hotel's responsibility in ensuring guest safety and well-being.
As quoted, a social media user said, "I believe the hotel should be responsible for calling the guest to collect the medicine and checking on the guest when he did not answer the call."
"The friend who delivered the medicine appears to be more responsible for his death because he did not tell the staff his name, room number or the urgency of his condition," another said.
Nowadays, hotels and resorts are expected to have protocols in place for handling medical emergencies, and even staff members are trained to respond in emergency situations.
