Date:28/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/28/stories/2006112803780400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Others

Kathiripallam road accident death toll rises to 18

S. Prasad

Doctors were not available at nearby government hospitals

RASH DRIVING: The mangled remains of the lorry, which was involved in an accident at Kathiripallam on the Anchetti - Hogenakkal road on Sunday. — Photo: N. Bashkaran

Hosur: The toll in the road accident at Kathiripallam, on the Anchetti-Hogenakkal Road, 70 km from here, on Monday rose to 18.

A lorry carrying a group of tribals had rammed into a hillock and overturned. While 10 persons died on the spot, the others died on way to hospital. Over 60 persons, including 15 children, were seriously injured.

The driver had lost control while negotiating a hairpin bend. Eyewitnesses said he was going at a high speed, ignoring the warnings from the passengers.

The police, with the help of local people, extricated the bodies and sent them to Anchetti Primary Health Centre for post-mortem. The district administration asked the Special Task Force personnel to search below the ravine for missing bodies.

Lack of medicare

The tragedy brought into focus the lack of medicare at the `golden hour'. Owing to lack of medical personnel at the Denkanikottai GH, the victims had to be taken to the Hosur GH, 23 km away. Again, due to inadequate number of doctors and X-ray technicians at the Hosur hospital, victims who had suffered multiple fractures were administered drips and referred to a multi-specialty hospital in Bangalore.

When Collector Santhosh Babu frantically tried to contact the doctors, their mobiles had been switched off. It is known that the administration would recommend disciplinary action against doctors and para-medical staff who were not present at the headquarters.

Most of the villages between Hogenakkal and Anchetti lack basic transport facilities.

The Anchetti-Hogenakkal Road was opened to traffic only recently. The tribals mostly depend on lorries and tri-wheelers.

And government hospitals in the district have become mere referral centres with patients being referred to Bangalore and Salem for further treatment.

Chennai Special Correspondent writes:

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday announced relief to the kin of the deceased. Each family would be given Rs.50,000.

The Government also decided to disburse Rs.50,000 (including Rs.35,000 toward medical expenditure) to each of the 16 persons who had suffered grievous injuries and were undergoing treatment in Bangalore.

Each family of the 54 persons who sustained injuries and were treated at a Hosur hospital would be given Rs.15,000.