Bhagalpur: In a bizzare incident, the body of 50-year-old a man, who collapsed outside the medical store in Bhgalpur, was left for hours unattended, triggering panic in the area. The incident reportedly happened at Aatma Ram Medical Hall near MP Diwedi Road on Wednesday afternoon.
As per the chemist, the man had come to buy a pump for asthma and had to wait for long hours due to a long queue outside the medical shop but after taking the medicine, his condition exacerbated and he collapsed outside the store.
Prashant Lal Thakur, the store owner, said, "The man had come to buy pump. After inhaling it, he sat down for few minutes and collapsed. We called the police, SP, DM and people manning the Covid-19 care facility but there was no response from their side."
He added, "It's been more than 1.5 hours but no has come for help. We even poured water on the victim's body but there was no movement."
Fearing the Covid scare, no one came forward to help and the body was left for hours. However, locals alerted the government officials and the police about the incident.
"After the man collapsed, we called DSP Rajvesh Singh and police officials of Kotwali Police station. They arrived after hours and started the investigation," said a local.
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The locals and the shopkeeper alleged that they raised an alarm for help to the people manning the Covid care helpline and the cops but they arrived after hours. The incident has raised questions on the corona handling of the state and on the health department officials handling the crisis.
However, it is still yet to be ascertained that the victim was Covid-19 positive or not.
Bhagalpur is the second-worst affected district of Bihar and the Covid-19 tally has crossed the 1200 mark. With the spurt in the number of Coronavirus cases in the district, the existing health system is grappling and hospitals have to face the brunt of the increasing caseload.
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Two days back, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar reimposed a lockdown in the state till July 31 after the state witnessed a huge spike in the covid cases. The state has recorded more than 20,000 coronavirus cases and 153 deaths till date.
