A 63-year-old man, who had tested positive for COVID-19, collapsed on a road and died a few yards from his house in Hanumantha Nagar around 4 p.m. on Friday. He was on his way to the main road where he was expecting an ambulance to pick him up. He had reportedly developed breathing issues.
The ambulance arrived nearly three hours later and removed the body. Till then, the man lay dead on the road, the body drenched in rain that lashed the city on Friday evening. As he had tested positive, neither his family members nor his neighbours came forward to shift the body.
“We called everyone – police, civic authorities and media – but he lay dead there on the road for nearly three hours,” his wife said.
Civic Commissioner Anil Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the delay. “This should not have happened. We will take strict action against those whose lapses led to this incident,” he said.
Revenue Minister R Ashoka termed the incident ‘tragic and inhuman’, and said all measures will be taken to ensure COVID-19 patients are shifted to hospitals or COVID-19 Care Centres at the earliest.
EOM
