Baby dies after 2-hour ambulance delay in Agra — because of a pothole

Parvendra’s cousin, Bhanu Pratap Singh, filed a complaint with the district administration over the pothole, detailing how the delay led to the loss of the unborn child.

“It took nearly two hours to pull the ambulance out of the pothole using a tractor, he said.

He said a stretch of the link road to Garhwar village in Bah tehsil, built by the Public Works Department, had been washed away during the rains about a month ago. Villagers had alerted the officials, but repair work was never carried out, he claimed in the complaint.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Agra, Vinod Kumar said the administration has sought an explanation from the PWD regarding when the pothole appeared and why it had not been repaired.

Sources said the pothole was 10X3 feet wide and two feet deep.

What transpired

According to Bhanu Pratap, the ambulance driver had called the number from which the request had originated, explaining that the vehicle was stuck in a pothole.

Villagers rushed to the scene and tried pushing the vehicle out, eventually using a tractor. The vehicle then took an alternate route to Nidhi’s home and took her to the CHC.

On reaching the CHC, Pratap said in his complaint, doctors told them an operation would be required but would be done the next day. “So we decided to take Nidhi to a nearby private hospital. The delivery was carried out at 5 am… the baby was dead,” said Singh, alleging that doctors there said the newborn had allegedly stopped breathing due to the delay in medical care.