Gujarat orders probe into late arrival of ambulance after CM’s cousin dies

An official said that since the locations are auto-assigned to ambulances by a software , the vehicle reached Ishwariya village on the outskirts of Rajkot because there is another Modi School - the landmark the caller had told the ambulance service - in that area too.

The Gujarat government on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the late arrival of an ambulance at the residence of chief minister Vijay Rupani’s sexagenarian cousin in Rajkot who died last week before the emergency vehicle arrived.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ‘s cousin allegedly died waiting for an ambulance that took almost 40 minutes to reach his residence in Rajkot. (ANI)

The matter came to light when Rupani went to pay tribute on Tuesday to his cousin Anilbhai Sanghavi, son of his maternal aunt.

Sanghvi died at his residence in on October 4 after complaining of breathlessness. According to BJP leaders, family members of the deceased complained to the chief minister about the delay in arrival of the ambulance during his visit to Sanghvi’s residence on Tuesday.

“We came to know that Sanghvi’s family members had called the ‘108’ ambulance to take him to hospital after he complained of breathlessness on October 4. It was alleged that by the time the ambulance reached his house Sanghvi had died,” said a BJP leader.

Rajkot district collector Remya Mohan said Wednesday that the state health department had ordered an inquiry into the allegation.

“An inquiry into the entire incident has been ordered by the state health department. We are also in the loop. The inquiry is being conducted by the Regional Deputy Director of health department. In the meantime, the district coordinator of 108 service has submitted a preliminary report,” Mohan said.

The collector said a relative of Sanghvi who called the ambulance service gave Modi School as the landmark to locate the residential society.

“Since the locations are auto-assigned to ambulances by a software, the ambulance reached Ishwariya village on the outskirts of the city because there is another Modi School in that area too. As a result, the ambulance took 39 minutes to reach the actual location,” explained Mohan.

The collector said more details will emerge after the final inquiry report.

“Attempts will be made to fine-tune the auto-assignment feature so that such unfortunate incidents do not recur,” she added.