A ten-year-old girl from Linh Dong Ward of Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City died after undergoing gastrointestinal endoscopy at the Thu Duc General Hospital on June 22.

A relative of the girl said that at 3am on June 22, the girl coughed and vomited a lot after taking in mouthfuls of water. Her parents rushed her to the hospital for emergency treatment where doctors diagnosed her with bleeding in the digestive tract or gastrointestinal hemorrhaging and decided to conduct an endoscopy--the most common method for finding source of bleeding in the digestive tract.

However, by 3pm on the same day, the girl’s relatives were told that she had fallen into a deep coma and by 5pm they declared her dead.

Nguyen Minh Quan, the hospital director, said doctors adhered to the right treatment procedure but still failed in saving the girl’s life.

Police officials in Thu Duc District are now investigating the cause of the girl’s death.

By Tuong Lam, Tien Dat - Translated by Uyen Phuong