The family of 18-year-old Anwar Ali, who came under the wheels of a bus in Koppal on Wednesday and pleaded for help as onlookers chose to videograph the tragic scene on cellphones, are distraught at the death of the breadwinner.
“Maybe Ali would have survived had people rushed him to the hospital a bit early instead of taking videos,” said Malaksab, his paternal uncle. Ali’s father, who was a lorry cleaner, died three years ago. His mother works as domestic help and Ali had the responsibility of raising his younger sister and two brothers.
Eyewitnesses said Ali kept pleading to be taken to the hospital as people watched and took videos, before one of them finally gave him water and summoned an ambulance. The hospital was not far, but it was close to 40 minutes before he could be taken there. The injuries were grievous and he had bled profusely. Ali, a salesboy in a tiles shop, was on his way to work when the accident took place.
Doctors, however, said that Ali, a resident of Devaraj Urs Colony in the town, was brought to the hospital “within the golden hour” and was also given treatment. He had suffered severe injuries since the wheel of the bus had gone over him and had lost a lot of blood. “He was infused seven bottles of blood and also put on ventilator, but in vain,” Daanreddi, District Surgeon Koppal, told The Hindu .
The Koppal police admitted that there was little awareness among people about the need to rush a patient to the hospital and that it would not get them into legal hassles. Srikant Kattimani, Dy.SP of Koppal, told this correspondent that an awareness campaign would be carried out to educate people on the need to rush victims to hospitals and save their lives. Karnataka has witnessed many incidents of accident victims not getting treatment on time. Last year, the death of Harish N., after a truck ran over him in Nelamangala, prompted the government to come up with the Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Scheme to provide cashless treatment during the golden hour.
