Tragedy at DMCH
Four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed and three others injured when an ambulance ran them over inside Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.
Three of the deceased were identified as Gulenur Begum, 26, her son Shakib, 7 and six-month pregnant Amena Begum, 28. The fourth victim, a beggar aged about 60, could not be identified.
Doctors performed a caesarean on Amena around noon but could not save the baby. She too died of her injuries in the evening, hospital sources said.
The injured are Amena's eight-year-old son Sajib, Gulenur's six-month-old son Akash, and Ramzan Ali, 40.
Police seized the ambulance and detained its driver Sohag and his assistant Sohel Mia.
According to hospital sources, a hospital staff and his relative are the owners of the ambulance.
Sohel was behind the wheel when the incident occurred near the hospital's emergency gate around 9:15am, police and witnesses said.
The ambulance had been hired to carry a corpse from the emergency unit of the hospital. Sohag asked Sohel to take the vehicle in front of the unit, they added.
“Instead of hitting the brakes, he [Sohel] accelerated while entering the hospital's premises,” Shahbagh Police Station's Sub-inspector Mahfuzur Rahman quoted the detainees as saying.
Shakib and the beggar died on the spot.
Amena's son Sajib, who suffered a fracture in his left leg, said his father Zakir Hossain suffered injuries in a road accident a few months ago and was undergoing treatment at the hospital. He and his mother were taking care of Zakir.
“We went to buy breakfast for my father near the emergency gate. All of a sudden, the ambulance appeared and ran us over,” he said.
Zakir was crying inconsolably after the incident. “My son and wife looked after me. Now who will take care of me,” he said.
Gulenur's father Abul Hossain Sardar said he along with his daughter, son-in-law Ferdaus and grandchildren -- Shakib and Akash -- got down from rickshaws near the hospital's entrance. Ferdaus went to get change to pay the rickshaw fare.
Shakib was ill and they went to the hospital to see a doctor.
“At that time, the ambulance first hit a few pedestrians outside the gate before running towards us,” he said.
The ambulance ran Gulenur over and stopped, Abul added. Later, people lifted the ambulance to rescue her and took her to the hospital.
She died around 2:30pm, said hospital sources.
Relatives of Ramzan Ali, whose condition was critical, said he was supposed to take his wife to a doctor at the hospital.
His wife was coming from Narayanganj and he was waiting for her at the gate when the incident happened, added relatives.
A case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station against Sohel Mia and two others.
According to DMCH sources, around 50 ambulances remain parked on both sides of the road in front of the hospital every day.
Following yesterday's incident, no ambulance was found in the area, said Sub-inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH police outpost.
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