Baby dies after 2-hour ambulance delay in Agra — because of a pothole

An ambulance carrying Nidhi Singh, a 25-year-old woman in labour, became stuck in a pothole in Gadhbar village, Agra district, Uttar Pradesh, during the early hours of September 3. The incident occurred after she went into labour around 1 am, prompting her family to call an ambulance. The vehicle was immobilized for nearly two hours due to the deep pothole, located around 2 km from her home.

Villagers had to assist by pulling the ambulance using a tractor. The baby died in the womb as a result of complications caused by the delay in reaching the Community Health Centre, which was reached at around 3:30 am. The delay was attributed to the emergency journey. The condition of the village road, previously repaired by the Public Works Department (PWD) six months ago, was cited as a factor in the tragedy.

Villagers had repeatedly reported the deteriorating road to the junior engineer of the PWD, but no action was taken. The Bah Sub-Divisional Magistrate acknowledged the complaint and assured that repairs would be expedited. Authorities also stated that the incident would be investigated.