Six patients died at a private hospital in Punjab's Amritsar on Saturday due to the shortage of oxygen, hospital authorities said.

Five of the six patients were infected with COVID-19, PTI reported.

"Despite the district administration being repeatedly asked to extend help, no one turned up to do the needful," Sunil Devgan, the chairman and managing director of Neelkant hospital, was quoted as saying to PTI.

"Six patients, including two women, died due to the shortage of oxygen," he said.

After the death of patients, merely five oxygen cylinders were supplied to the hospital and no district official could be reached, the report said.

The hospital chairman also claimed that three main oxygen suppliers have said that government hospitals are being prioritised in terms of oxygen supply, the report added.