Tamil Nadu: With no doctors at Ambur government hospital, two patients die

Vellore: Tension and high drama prevailed for most part of Sunday afternoon at the Ambur Government hospital, as two patients including a girl child died due to alleged non-availability of doctors at the emergency ward and triggering protests by various Hindu outfits including the 'Hindu Munnani'.

One of the patients who died, 65-year-old Rajkumar, a businessman from Chennai, was an accident victim, said sources in Ambur. Rajkumar and his friend Santhanam, 73, were proceeding to Bengaluru from Chennai when their car suddenly rammed into a lorry on the national highway.

Both the critically injured car accident victims were rushed by a '108 ambulance' to the Ambur government hospital, but as no doctors were available at the Emergency ward for a long time, Rajkumar succumbed to his injuries. Santhanam was moved by a private ambulance to the Government hospital in Vellore.

Despite staff in the hospital calling up to get doctors to rush to the Ambur hospital, it took a long time for one of the doctors to arrive. Meanwhile, for want of immediate medical attention, it was alleged that another patient, 13-year-old girl child, Vaishnavi, who came with breathing problems also passed away.

Even as Hindu outfits protested against these developments outside the Ambur hospital, the kin of the deceased girl had to struggle to take back their girl home to their village, 8 km away, on a two-wheeler as a mortuary van was not available to take the body. Later the resident medical officer Dr. Sharmila was reportedly transferred as irate members of the public and political party volunteers complained about today’s shocking developments at the hospital.