Injured toddler dies on way to hospital as ambulance gets stuck in traffic jam in Thane

Thane, Sep 19 (PTI) A 16-month-old boy, who was injured after falling from the balcony of his grandmother's home, died as the ambulance ferrying him to hospital got stuck in a traffic jam on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Thane district, people close to his family said on Friday.

For the past several days, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Nashik highways, which pass through Thane district, have been witnessing severe traffic congestion with jams reportedly stretching up to six hours.

The toddler, Rian Sheikh, whose parents reside in Kurla in Mumbai, was at his grandmother's home in Pelhar in adjoining Palghar district when he fell from the balcony on Thursday while playing.

"He fell straight from the fourth floor to the ground and sustained severe abdominal injuries," a neighbour of the family told the media.

The toddler was first taken on a motorbike to a private hospital in Naigaon in Palghar district, where doctors temporarily stabilized him and referred him to a specialized hospital in Mumbai for advanced treatment, he said.

The family arranged an ambulance for taking him to a hospital in Mumbai. However, the ambulance ferrying the child got stuck in a massive traffic jam caused by the closure of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway on a stretch towards Thane, said the people close to the family.

The child was then taken to a hospital in Sasoon Navghar between Thane and Vasai town where doctors declared him dead on arrival, they said.

The hospital confirmed that the child died before admission. However, police were not available for comment.

The traffic congestion was a result of ongoing repair work on the Thane-Ghodbunder Road, which had led to closure of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway towards Thane from 6 am to 9 pm.

The child's death triggered an outrage among local residents, who blamed the administration for the tragedy.

Sushant Patil, president of the Bhumiputra Sanghatana, an NGO, said, "The traffic department has completely failed. We have made repeated appeals to authorities to act, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears." Citizens demanded immediate implementation of green corridors, strict enforcement of heavy vehicle bans, and accountability from civic and traffic authorities to prevent such tragedies.

This was not the first fatality linked to traffic bottleneck in the Thane-Palghar region.

On July 30, a 49-year-old woman, Chhaya Kaushik Purav, a resident of Madhukar Nagar in the Saphala area who suffered severe injuries in a tree fall incident, died when the ambulance ferrying her got stuck in a massive traffic jam on a highway in Palghar. PTI COR RSY