A man who had sustained serious injuries in a vehicle accident has allegedly died due to lack of fuel for an ambulance to get him to a major hospital from the village hospital for advanced treatment.
According to the patients’ relatives, the authorities at the Wettewa hospital in Matugama had to call for an ambulance from another hospital to take the patient to the Nagoda hospital as there was no fuel for their hospital ambulance.
Even after one and half hours an ambulance from the other hospital had not arrived at which time the patient had passed away.
The above was stated by the wife of the deceased giving evidence at the Coroner’s inquest into the death of the patient on Sunday.
The victim who was travelling on a motorbike to buy fish had collided with a van at Kopiwatta, Matugama, the wife of the deceased said.
“I informed the children and went to Kopiwatta but the husband had already been taken to the Wettewa hospital. When I went to the Wettewa Hospital in Matugama, the husband was in a trolley and officers told me he was to be taken to the Nagoda General Hospital for further treatment. They said an ambulance had to be brought from another hospital as there was no fuel in the hospital for its ambulance. But, a vehicle did not arrive for an hour and a half. Meanwhile, my husband closed his eyes in front of my eyes,” the wife said.
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