For the second time in less than two months, hundreds of outsourced employees at Hamidia Hospital, including ward boys, technicians, and ambulance workers, went on strike on Tuesday, fracturing critical health services in the state capital.

Protest leaders said the strike was caused by the tertiary facility's refusal to heed their demands for timely payment of their wages. The strike disrupted health services at the mainstay health facility, which caters to thousands of patients every day.

Family members of Aneesa Aijaz had a harrowing time arranging for a hearse after the cancer patient passed away at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon."We had to arrange private transport to shift her mortal remains to our residence in the Congress Nagar area of Kaziq Camp," said her nephew, Ghani Haroon.

Notably, the employees had gone on strike in October to press for the release of months of wages owed to them by the hospital and a private firm responsible for supplying staff to the mainstay medical facility in the city.

The employees had returned to work after the hospital hurriedly released part of the wages in a bid to placate staff members.

Though the hospital attempted to downplay the incident, employees had vowed to strike again if a system for the timely release of their salaries was not worked out between the hospital and the private firm.

The protesting employees sat on a dharna since early morning to draw attention to their plight, which they say causes immeasurable suffering for their families due to continuing apathy.