Pregnant woman dies in Odisha as ambulance runs out of fuel

Bhubaneswar A 27-year-old pregnant woman died early on Saturday after the ambulance they were travelling in ran out of fuel halfway to the hospital in Mayurbhanj

Bhubaneswar A 27-year-old pregnant woman died early on Saturday after the ambulance they were travelling in ran out of fuel halfway to the hospital in Mayurbhanj district.

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Tulasi Munda from Hanida village was admitted to the Bangiriposhi community health centre in Mayurbhanj after she went into labour on Friday night. However, the doctors there referred her to Pandit Raghunath Murmu medical college and hospital in Baripada, 40 km away, after they diagnosed her with high blood pressure.

Mayurbhanj chief district medical officer (CDMO) Pradip Mohapatra said the woman and her husband Chittaranjan Munda called for 102 and 108 ambulances, but none of the ambulances arrived.

They later boarded an ambulance of the Bangriposi community health centre that stopped after travelling 15 kms.

“The ambulance ran out of fuel after the fuel pipe burst draining all the oil. The ASHA worker Suchitra Dutt, who accompanied the woman, called another ambulance but it arrived after an hour. By then the woman had died,” said the CDMO. The woman was declared dead in the hospital soon after her arrival.

The woman’s husband, however, held the hospital authorities responsible for his wife’s death accusing them of failing to provide a workable ambulance.

“The ambulance stopped near Kuliana it ran out of fuel. We have to wait for more than an hour on the road till another vehicle could be arranged for the forward journey,” said Tulasi’s husband Chittranjan Munda.

CDMO said he would conduct a probe into the incident.