STEPHAN Francis, 28, who was found unresponsive after a fight at Chalet Four, National Psychiatric Hospital on Sunday, died as a result of bronchoaspiration.

This is according to Government Pathologist, Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan, who conducted a post-mortem on the remains of Francis at the New Amsterdam Hospital Mortuary on Tuesday.

The cause of death is as a result of the entry of material such as pharyngeal secretions, food or drink, or stomach contents from the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract into the larynx (voice box) and lower respiratory tract, the portions of the respiratory system from the trachea (windpipe) to the lungs.

Francis, who was a substance abuse patient at the mental health facility for just over a week, allegedly choked on a piece of food which he had in his mouth at the time of the fight.

Director of Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens, while confirming the incident from his office on Monday, said preliminary findings revealed that the incident occurred just before midnight. Francis was involved in a fight, during which he fell, hit his head and subsequently died.

While the incident is regrettable, Stephens noted that the relatives of the deceased have since been notified and hospital staffers are working closely with the police as they submit statements.

It is expected that during the investigation, answers will be given as to why such an incident occurred and how it could be prevented in the future.

About 40 per cent of the patients at the hospital are substance abusers.

“All in all, it poses a challenge for we are not just looking at sick patients but those who are substance abusers and those passing through the courts and were given orders to be admitted at the National Psychiatric Hospital. The substance abuse patient has the tendency of becoming violent after a period of time and when that happens, they form gangs and they fight. This is what happened last night. But we regret what happened and we are waiting on the police to give us a thorough report,” Stephens said.