India man dies after being sucked into MRI scanner

MUMBAI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- An Indian man died after being sucked into an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner at a hospital in Mumbai, local police said.

The tragedy happened on Saturday night when Rajesh Maru, 32, was jerked toward the MRI scanner by its magnetic force after he carried a metal oxygen cylinder into the room.

Preliminary reports suggested that the cause of death was the lethal liquid oxygen Maru inhaled when the cylinder broke after hitting the scanner, police in Mumbai said.

Maru's family said he was visiting a relative in the hospital. Then for reasons undisclosed he was asked to carry the oxygen cylinder by a junior member of staff who assured him the machine was switched off.

An MRI scanner uses a powerful magnetic field to produce images of the body's organs. The force of an MRI scanner is usually about 30,000 times as powerful as Earth's magnetic field, and 200 times stronger than a common refrigerator magnet.

Police said that a doctor and a junior member of the staff have been detained for "causing death due to negligence."

A similar accident happened in 2010 when an MRI scanner yanked a metal oxygen cylinder across the room and crushed a six-year-old's head in New York. Enditem