Ashok Amrohi, former Indian ambassador to Brunei, Mozambique, and Algeria, passed away on April 27. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had taken to Twitter to condole the death of Amrohi, ‘a good friend and dedicated colleague’.
Amrohi’s family has now revealed that the former diplomat passed away outside a private hospital in Gurgaon after waiting for a bed for nearly five hours. Speaking to The Wire, his wife, Yamini Amrohi, said that her husband had been ill over the past week. With his situation deteriorating, doctors had advised that he should be hospitalised. Though the hospital had promised a bed initially, the admission process stretched on for hours due to long queues. They waited more than an hour for the COVID-19 test to be done initially, she said.
The hospital refused any care till the admission process was completed, Yamini said. “I went to the place at least three times begging them for someone to look at him… I was crying, I was shouting that his heartbeat is failing. But nobody helped,” she told The Wire. An oxygen cylinder was brought, but that did not help.
Amrohi died of a cardiac arrest while sitting in the car.
Speaking to NDTV, Yamini urged hospitals to be more humane so that people do not die at their doorsteps.
The second wave of COVID-19 is raging across the country, with patients facing shortage of hospital beds, medical oxygen and medicines. India on Friday posted a record daily rise of over 3.86 lakh new COVID-19 cases and 3,498 deaths, according to data released by the Union Health Ministry.
