A patient in Guna, Madhya Pradesh, lost his life after the ambulance carrying him suffered a tyre puncture and lacked a spare.
The incident occurred when 65-year-old Jagdish Ojha was referred from Myana Health Centre to the District Hospital following complaints of chest pain and high blood pressure. However, the government ambulance in which he was being taken broke down on National Highway 46 after one of its tyres got punctured. The ambulance did not have a spare tyre (stepney).
As a result, the vehicle remained stranded by the roadside for nearly an hour, during which Ojha’s condition deteriorated, and he passed away before reaching the hospital.
The ambulance driver said that it was his first day on that vehicle, and he was unaware of whether it carried a spare tyre. “I only received instructions to pick up the patient from Myana and take him to the district hospital,” the driver said.
Ojha’s son alleged that the ambulance arrived 45 minutes late. “My father was already in pain. About 10 km into the journey, the ambulance tyre got punctured. By the time we arranged another vehicle and reached the hospital, the doctors declared him dead,” he said, calling it a clear case of negligence.
The death has triggered sharp criticism from Congress MLA Rishi Agrawal, who visited the hospital and spoke to the district collector over the phone, demanding strict action against those responsible. The MLA accused the health department of massive corruption, alleging misuse of over Rs 600 crore in ambulance services, and demanded an investigation.
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