A 49-year-old woman from Palghar, neighbouring Mumbai, who suffered serious head and rib injuries after a tree branch fell on her, died in an ambulance en route to hospital.
The incident reportedly took place on 31 July. According to reports, due to the unavailability of a trauma hospital in the district, the victim, Chhaaya Purav, was referred to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, around 100 kilometres away from her home.
The ambulance set off for the Mumbai hospital at around 3 pm, a journey that typically takes about two and a half hours. She was administered anaesthesia, and her husband accompanied her in the ambulance.
However, the vehicle became stuck in a massive traffic jam on NH-48. By 6 pm, more than three hours into the journey, the ambulance had only managed to reach the halfway point. The anaesthetic began to wear off, leaving Ms Purav in excruciating pain. As her condition deteriorated, the ambulance diverted to Orbit Hospital on Mira Road, about 30 kilometres from Hinduja Hospital, in hopes of providing urgent medical care.
Despite the efforts, she could not be saved. Medical staff examined Ms Purav upon arrival and pronounced her dead. Her husband, Kaushik, said he was devastated to learn that arriving just half an hour earlier could have saved her life.
“I watched her endure unbearable agony for four hours,” he told NDTV, describing how the traffic gridlock and pothole-ridden road intensified her suffering. “She kept pleading for help, but we were trapped as vehicles driving against traffic made matters worse,” he recounted.
