Mental patient kills another

Argument turned physical and they started hitting and kicking each other

A psychiatric patient was killed on Thursday in Fort Beaufort, apparently during a fight with another patient, an Eastern Cape official said.

The fight broke out early on Thursday morning at the Tower Psychiatric Hospital, said health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo.

The two men quarrelled, but the argument turned physical and they started hitting and kicking each other.

One patient suffered head injuries and died while being taken to another ward for treatment, Kupelo said.

“We are shocked, and we are going to investigate the incident,” he said.

Although fights had occurred before at the hospital, this was the first time a patient had been killed.

The other patient would be transferred to the Fort England hospital in Grahamstown, a high-security psychiatric hospital, Kupelo said.

He said the department would investigate Tower Hospital’s security measures.