14 April,2010 08:19 AM IST | | Agni Pandey
Mob mayhem ensues, state government issues probe
The scenes in Kolkata were unprecedented. And the public indignation had genuine causes. It all started when three people were killed and six injured in a collision between a van and a lorry near Bagha Jatin flyover in south Kolkata. One of those injured was a 14-year-old boy Sonai Tarafder.
Money matters: The Peerless Hospital in Kolkata first allegedly refused
a trauma victim and then asked for money upfront.
Eyewitnesses say Sonai was taken to Peerless Hospital, one of the most renowned medical institutions in the country, but the hospital authorities first allegedly refused to take him and later demanded a large sum of money upfront. Sonai died at the hospital gate, adding one more to the tally.
"I was at a tea stall when the accident took place. I immediately reached the spot and saw this boy bleeding profusely. A few others were injured, the rest were died. We took this boy to Peerless Hospital, it was a little past 7 in the morning. The people at the reception first refused to take him saying that no doctor was available so early in the morning. Later they asked for Rs 50,000 to take him. We didn't know the victim?
How could we pay such a large sum? We then took him to the Apex Nursing Home. The people there also refused us, saying they were ill equipped and we should go back to peerless. So, we did that, but by the time we had reached the hospital gates, the boy had died," said Rahul, an eyewitness.
An angry mob then vandalized both Peerless Hospital and Apex Nursing Home . Medical equipment was smashed
| What started it all |
| The accident had occurred off Bagha Jatin bridge on the Bypass side at around 6 in the morning after a Tata 407 carrying about 25 people collided with a lorry. The five casualties, all from North 24-Parganas, were flung off the vehicle on impact and fell on the road, a survivor said. |
