Minor Boy’s Death: Ambulance Took 22 Mins & Not Over An Hour, Say Commissionerate Police

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Friday refuted the claims made by a father that his five-year-old son died as the ambulance carrying him took an hour and a half to cover 13-km stretch from Capital Hospital to KIMS in the Odisha capital.

In a tweet, it said that the CCTV footage shows that the ambulance (OD 33 Y 6019) took 22 minutes and 38 sec to reach KIMS from Raj Bhavan Square. “Raj Bhavan Sq.10:01:40 AM 120 TA Bn Sq. 10:02:37AM Nalco Sq. 10:10:29AM KIMS- 10:24:18AM (Didn’t go through AG sq.),” it added.

The incident took place on February 11. The grieving family had then alleged that the ambulance got stuck in traffic several times. “Had there been a dedicated passage for it, my son would have been alive,” said Nirod, the child’s father.

The family’s request to some commuters to give passage to the ambulance too had fallen in deaf ears, he had added.

A day after the incident, DCP Traffic Sagarika Nath had said that there were plans to build six-lane road (three-lane each) connecting Jaydev Vihar with Patia Square. The work on the project will begin in a couple of weeks, she had informed.

Besides, ambulances in Bhubaneswar will be equipped with GPS locators, which will send a feed to the Smart City control centre. The feed will be directed to the traffic police, who can accordingly vacate the route for ambulances. This system will be put in place soon by Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited in collaboration with the Commissionerate Police.

Meanwhile, the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) has sought an action taken report (ATR) from the Traffic DCP in connection with the death of a five-year-old critically-ill boy. The DCP has been asked to submit the report in a week.