No ambulance, woman dies in handcart on way to hospital

Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh): A 46-year-old woman died in Mainpuri district on Sunday after her family failed to get an ambulance for her on time.

Her nephew, Jitendra Rathore, rushed her to the district hospital on a handcart, but she was declared ‘brought dead on arrival’ by the doctors.

Mainpuri district magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh has ordered an inquiry into the matter while the additional SP hinted the possibility of negligence by ambulance drivers and the ‘108’ service. The woman has been identified as Guddi Devi.

Her husband, Laxmi Rathore, and their son, who work as tailors in Jaipur, were on their way to Mainpuri in the evening, after learning about the tragedy. The duo had been stuck in Rajasthan since the nationwide lockdown began.

They were issued passes to travel to Mainpuri after Jaipur police verified the incident with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, Guddi Devi fainted while climbing up the stairs, after which her family frantically dialled ‘108’ for ambulance service several times. With no help coming their way, they took her to the hospital and she passed away on the way.

The Mainpuri district magistrate told reporters that prima facie, there is a lapse on the part of ‘108’ ambulance service, but other aspects are also being looked into.

“We need to know the cause of death and CCTV footage of the district hospital will be scanned to get a clear picture of the incident. I have asked the officials to investigate whether district health officials or ambulance service were responsible,” he said.

The official assured that strict action will be taken by the administration against those responsible.

Mainpuri additional Superintendent of police, O.P. Singh, said that according to family members, the victim was operated for an abdominal tumour seven months ago. She developed breathing problem on Sunday and then fainted.

He further said that in preliminary inquiry, it was revealed that her family called for ambulance service on ‘108’ and one driver did not pick up the call while another driver told the call centre that his vehicle had a punctured tyre. A third driver, who was contacted, claimed that he was going to the spot, but never turned up.

Officials said that the post-mortem of the deceased will be conducted only after her husband’s approval.

Mainpuri is the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

By IANS