Russian authorities have launched a criminal probe after the publication of a video showing psychiatric hospital workers mistreating an elderly patient.
Smartphone video circulated online this week shows two male nurses throwing slippers at a patient and kicking him while laughing, before running away as he chases after them. The video was reportedly filmed in June at the Magnitogorsk psychiatric facility in the Urals, some 1,700 kilometers east of Moscow.
Federal investigators said Wednesday that a negligence probe has been opened into the abuse, 24 hours after regional investigators said they were inspecting the video.
Regional health administrators said they fired three nurses alongside the head of the Magnitogorsk psychiatric hospital No. 5, where the incident reportedly took place, and promised inspections in other institutions.
“They’ll no longer work in the public health system,” Chelyabinsk region’s health administration told the 74.ru news website.
The administration said the elderly patient died two months after being released. His unnamed granddaughter told local media that the 72-year-old had suffered from diabetes and memory loss.
“He hadn’t told us about abuses,” the Magcity74.ru news website quoted her as saying.
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