MARGAO: The school bus accident that left 22 children injured in Balli, Cuncolim, on Thursday morning exposed the gaps in emergency medical infrastructure in the village, the Chairman of NGO Green Goa Foundation alleged on Friday. “What is most disheartening is the non-availability of ambulances to transport the injured students to the hospital. At the time the incident occurred, the Balli Health Centre had only one ambulance available, which was not at all sufficient,” said Raison Almeida of GGF, pushing for the Goa government to address the deficiency at the earliest.
Almeida said that rescuers managed to accommodate five to six students into the ambulance at one time, and the Balli-based ambulance managed to transfer five more students to the hospital on another trip, while there were still many students waiting to be taken to hospital for medical attention. Police driver Faiyaz Shaikh, attached to the Cuncolim Police station, who reached the accident spot in a police SUV, managed to rush another four students, of whom three were seriously injured and vomiting, to the District hospital at Margao, he added.
Almeida said that the other ambulance which arrived on the spot later had to be arranged from Navelim as there were no other ambulances stationed close-by at the time.
Vinod Lohar from Margao, who owns a private ambulance, rushed to the spot upon hearing about the plight of the injured students waiting for help. Lohar offered his services free of cost to transport the rest of the injured children to the District hospital, said Almeida.
“As the jurisdiction of the Cuncolim Police station includes several schools, industries, and a fishing jetty, there is a shortage of police vehicles and personnel as well, apart from healthcare facilities. Better infrastructure in terms of Police personnel and medical facilities is the need of the hour in Cuncolim,” said GGF.
Two more injured students hospitalised, total six at District Hospital, Margao
MARGAO: Two more students of Cuncolim’s United High School, who had initially been treated at Balli Health Centre and discharged, were admitted to the South Goa District Hospital late Thursday night, taking the number of hospitalised students to six. According to Cuncolim police, the students developed health issues during the night, prompting their admission to SGDH for further treatment.
Twenty-two students were injured as the school’s Balrath bus had overturned into a ditch while transporting 27 students on Thursday morning.
Cuncolim police have registered an offence under sections 279 and 337 of IPC against the driver of the bus. The driver was interrogated today, and a report from the Regional Transport Office (RTO), which inspected the bus, is awaited. Police sources indicate that statements of the injured students will be recorded at their homes in the presence of an NGO representative.
