CHENNAI: An 18-year-old college student died after he lost control of the bike and rammed it into a tree at Besant Nagar on Thursday morning.
The deceased has been identified as M Kishan Sri Hari of Nerkundram, a first year engineering student of a private college. Adyar Traffic Investigation Wing police said Kishan, who did not have a driving licence, was heading to Besant Nagar beach on his father’s bike.
While passersby who offered help contended that the ambulance arrived late, EMRI Green Health Services that operate the 108 emergency response system for ambulances said that the first ambulance reached the spot in seven to eight minutes. It said this was a good response time.
According to the police, Kishan’s friends accompanied him on multiple bikes. Police said, Kishan, who was wearing a helmet, lost control of the bike and rammed it into a tree at Besant Avenue.
Dr Lakshmi Sundar, a jogger, who was present nearby during the accident, told TNIE that Kishan could not get treatment immediately and alleged delay in the arrival of 108 ambulance. The boy was sent in an auto rickshaw to a hospital, she said.
Another person from the jogging group said, “One of the joggers was a doctor who immediately performed a cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The pulse was low then. When I called 108, a woman answered immediately but kept asking for the district and other details. I kept repeating the spot is near Besant Nagar beach along Besant Avenue but she didn’t seem to understand,” she said. The first ambulance arrived only after nine to ten minutes, followed by another one after 15 minutes, she added.
M Selvakumar, State head of operations, EMRI Green Health Services, GVK Enterprise, who verified the recording of the particular call after TNIE asked him about complaints of delay, said the ambulance reached the spot in seven to eight minutes. He clarified that the entire call duration was only 57 seconds, during which only basic details to identify the location was asked. He refuted the allegations that specific details like the zone and division of Greater Chennai Corporation in which the location fell was asked.
(With inputs from Sinduja Jane)