Delay in arrival of ‘108’ ambulance claims one life

Tirupur: A 50-year-old man died after a private mini bus mowed him down in the city on Thursday.
K Vellaisamy, of Madurai, was working as a watchman in a private school at Kovilvazhi in the dollar city. When he was walking on the Tirupur Road next to Khaderpet around 1.15pm, a private mini bus plying between Old bus stand and New bus stand knocked him down and dragged him for few meters as he was stuck in the rear wheel of the bus.
TOI witnessed the accident which was caused by multiple factors including speeding of the bus.
After Vellaisamy was knocked down, he was lying in a pool of blood and battling for life.
Some commuters tried to contact toll-free number ‘108’ but the service was completely out of service. Around 1.43pm, a private ambulance reached the spot and took Vellaisamy to the Tirupur GH. Six minutes later, a 108-ambulance came to the spot without knowing that the victim was already taken away.
When TOI enquired with a traffic wing policeman, he said, “Since the toll-free number ‘108’ could not be reached, I informed about the accident to Chandrapuram police check post since it was nearer to Tirupur GH. Police there contacted a ‘108’ ambulance driver in person and alerted about the accident. Meanwhile, Vellaisamy was declared brought dead at the GH.”
A police officer said, “It was unfortunate that ‘108’ ambulance was not parked anywhere near Tirupur railway station area. With heavy traffic, it would never be easy to rush ambulance and reach the accident spots.”
Tirupur district manager of 108 ambulance service V Muthukrishnan said, “The nearby parking spots for ambulances were Cotton Market and Tirupur north fire station. It was to be ascertained why it took more time for the ‘108’ ambulance to reach the spot. The ambulances might have been engaged already. In case of out of service complaint of the toll-free number ‘108’, sometimes such technical snag happens but it would be restored within few minutes.”