Newborn, doctor among four killed as ambulance catches fire in Gujarat
Modasa (PTI): A newborn baby, a doctor and two other persons were charred to death when an ambulance they were travelling in caught fire near Modasa town in Gujarat's Arvalli district in the wee hours of Tuesday, police said.
The blaze erupted in the ambulance on Modasa-Dhansura road at around 1 am when the one-day-old boy, who was sick after birth, was being taken to a private hospital in Ahmedabad from a Modasa-based hospital for further treatment, police inspector DB Vala said.
The child, his father, identified as Jignesh Mochi (38), doctor Shantilal Rentia (30), from Ahmedabad, and nurse Bhuriben Manat (23), a native of Arvalli, were killed, he said.
Three others -- Mochi's two relatives and the private ambulance driver -- suffered burn injuries and were admitted to a nearby hospital, the official said.
"Jignesh Mochi was a native of neighbouring Mahisagar district and his newborn child was under treatment at a private hospital in Modasa after birth. When he was being taken to another private hospital, the ambulance caught fire on its way due to some unknown reason," Vala said.
In the CCTV footage released by police, the ambulance can be seen slowing down near a petrol pump after the driver realised about fire on its rear side.
"While the driver and two of Mochi's relatives, who were on the front seat, escaped with injuries, the infant, his father, along with the doctor and a nurse, who were on the back side of the vehicle, were charred to death in the blaze," Vala said.
Though the local fire brigade rushed to the spot after being alerted, the four victims could not be saved, he said.
The injured persons have been identified as driver Ankit Thakor and Jignesh Mochi's relatives - Gaurang Mochi and Gitaben Mochi.
District Superintendent of Police Manoharsinh Jadeja said forensic experts have been called in to investigate the incident and find out the causes that led to the tragedy.
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Confident about Cong winning bypolls in Karnataka, guarantee schemes helping us: Siddaramaiah
Davangere (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday expressed confidence that Congress candidates will win both the Bagalkot and Davanagere South assembly bypolls in the state by a huge margin, as the government's five guarantee schemes will help the party.
Asserting that Karnataka's economy is in good shape, he accused the BJP of making negative statements for political gain.
The CM is in Davanagere to campaign for Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun, after campaigning for Umesh Meti in the Bagalkot segment for the last two days.
Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9. The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively.
"I'm confident that we will win in both constituencies by a big margin because of our government's good work. Our guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti', 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya') are helping us. The BJP opposed guarantee schemes because they are programmes for the poor and they always oppose such initiatives," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said over Rs 1.31 lakh crore has been spent on the guarantee schemes so far.
Noting that there are two types of economic theory -- trickle-down economics and universal basic income -- the CM said, "We believe in universal basic income theory because Basavanna, Ambedkar, Gandhiji, among others, wanted the focus to be on eliminating the sufferings of the last man."
"Through the guarantee schemes, the government is providing benefits to the poor in society -- irrespective of their language, caste or religion -- directly to their bank accounts, without any interference from middlemen," he said, as he rejected the BJP's allegations of corruption in guarantee schemes.
Pointing out that the BJP also claims the treasury is empty because of the guarantee schemes and that the state is being pushed into a debt trap, Siddaramaiah said the state's finances were better managed compared to the central government and most of the states where the saffron party is in power.
Karnataka is number two in the country in GST collection and attracting investments. "Then how is the BJP saying that Karnataka's economic situation is not in good shape? They are making such statements for the sake of politics...Karnataka's economic situation is strong. The BJP is lying," he said.
He also claimed that prices of petrol, diesel and other essentials cost less in Karnataka compared to other neighbouring states in South India.
Karnataka's economy is strong and stable, Siddaramaiah said, as he questioned the Modi government over the falling rupee against the dollar, 'Ache din,' doubling farmers' income, and generating 2 crore jobs every year.
The CM also assured of more funds for Davanagere's development saying, "This is bypolls, not general elections. We will give more funds. We are in power and Congress will be in power for two years."
