High ambulance fare forces man to carry mother's body on shoulders
Jalpaiguri (WB) (PTI): Unable to pay the high amount demanded by ambulance operators, a man, carrying his mother's body on his shoulder, started walking from a government hospital towards home, around 40 kilometres away, in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.
However, after some time, a social service organisation provided the man with a vehicle which took them home in Kranti block of the district free of cost.
Ram Prasad Dewan said his 72-year-old mother was suffering from breathing problems and he took her to Jalpaiguri Medical College and Hospital here on Wednesday. She died there the next day.
"The ambulance that had brought us to the hospital charged Rs 900. But ambulance operators demanded Rs 3000 to take us home. We couldn't pay that much," Dewan said.
So he wrapped his mother's body in a bedsheet, placed it on his shoulder and started walking. His elderly father was accompanying him.
The hospital's Superintendent Kalyan Khan termed the incident "very unfortunate".
"We could have arranged a hearse for them if we knew. We do it regularly. The family perhaps was not aware of it. They did not contact us. We have to ensure that people know about this," he said.
An office bearer of the social service organisation that helped Dewan alleged that ambulance operators do not allow those who provide free service to go near the hospital.
Denying the charge, the district ambulance association asserted that their members also provide free service during train and road accidents.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
