Ailing man carried on cot to cross village; dies in hospital

Gadchiroli (Maha) : A 65-year-old man died despite his family and villagers making all efforts to save him by carrying him on a cot for about one km to reach an ambulance in the absence of a proper bridge over a nullah.

Karpa Pungati, a resident of Juwwi village in the district, complained of vomiting and stomachache on Sunday morning following which his family members contacted the Bhamragarh rural hospital, Dr Pranay Mandal, the medical officer in charge of the hospital’s emergency cell, said today.

The hospital authorities then sent an ambulance to carry the patient. However, the vehicle could not reach the destination as the bridge, connecting Bhamragarh to Juwwi, over the nullah was not fit for travelling after it got severely damaged during the recent heavy rains, said Mandal, who was in the ambulance to attend to the patient.

Pungati’s relatives and fellow villagers then carried him on a cot for around one km, crossed the nullah and later moved him into the ambulance to reach Bhamragarh, he said. The patient passed away on Sunday evening while undergoing treatment at the hospital, Mandal said. Later, the hospital informed about the incident to the police who registered an accidental death report (ADR), Bhamragarh police station’s sub-inspector N D Mazumdar said.

The ADR has been transferred to Dhodraj police station (near Juwwi) for further investigation, he said. According to locals, the residents of other villages in the vicinity were also facing a lot of hardships in the absence of a proper bridge over the nullah. The doctors too were finding it difficult to reach the patients in the remote areas in case of an emergency, they said.