HYDERABAD: In a tragic incident, popular folk artiste Nissar of Telangana Praja Natya Mandali passed away on Wednesday.
He had been an employee with TSRTC for decades and had been serving at the Miyapur Depot before falling prey to the virus. It is learnt that on Monday, the 56-year-old complained of breathlessness and was rushed to a private hospital. His test results revealed severe pneumonia-like symptoms.
It is unclear if the hospital staffers went for a Covid test.
At 2 am on Tuesday night, he was rushed to Gandhi Hospital after being rejected by multiple private hospitals. At Gandhi, the TSRTC Union leaders alleged that Nissar died five hours later due to lack of ventilator.
His death has left TSRTC employees furious at the civic body's lack of preparedness. "There is a big RTC hospital in Tarnaka where they have not even allowed to set up an isolation ward. Where should we go? We have been coming to work daily and exposing ourselves. Why don't they take responsibility?" questioned Raji Reddy of TSRTC Employees Union.
This is not a one-off tragedy. A week ago a coronavirus-infected RTC employee from Kukatpally Depot died in the ambulance after no hospital admitted him for treatment.