Stuck in traffic jam, UP burn victim dies before reaching Delhi hospital

The teen was referred to Delhi’s Safdarganj Hospital but the ambulance carrying her could not even come out of the district due to traffic jam around sugar mills.

A teenaged girl, who received 90% burn injuries after her clothes caught fire from a kerosene lamp, died after the ambulance carrying her to a hospital got stuck in a traffic jam in UP’s Shamli district on Tuesday.

Family members taking Shivani on a stretcher through the jam caused by sugarcane laden vehicles. (HT Photo)

Fifteen-year-old Shivani, from Shamli’s Gomtipur Sikka village, was referred to Delhi’s Safdarganj Hospital, which is around 100 kilometres from the district, but the ambulance carrying her could not even come out of the district due to traffic jam around sugar mills. Her family members made all efforts, including carrying her through the crowded road on a stretcher, but to no avail.

Daughter of one Prem Singh of Gomtipur Sikka village, Shivani was lighting the kerosene lamp following a power cut on Tuesday evening when her clothes caught fire. The panicky family members rushed her to a nearby health centre in an ambulance. However, the ambulance got stuck in traffic and it took hours for her to reach there. Having received 90% burns, she was referred to a hospital in Delhi.

“Though we have deployed cops to regulate and monitor traffic, the jam was acute on Tuesday because of some technical snag in the sugar mill,” said Dinesh Kumar, PRO to SSP Shamli.

Dr Sanjay Bhatnagar, chief medical officer, Shamli, said, “A lot of patients have to battle traffic before they get access to treatment at our health centres. We have discussed the matter with the local police and with the sugar mill management to find an alternative. We are trying to make things better.”