Unconscious man in S Delhi market fails to get help for over 3 hours, dies

NEWDELHI:A 65-year-old man, who used to work as an attendant at All India Institute of Medical Sciences until last year, did not get any help for over three hours after falling unconscious at south Delhi’s Yusuf Sarai market. He died later in the day at a hospital.

Onlookers refused to approach him due to fear of contracting Covid-19. A police official, who stepped in to move the man to a hospital, said he died during treatment.

A senior police officer said it is unclear whether the elderly man was suffering from Covid-19.

The man, who was later identified as a resident of Kotla Mubarakpur, was found lying unconscious at the market by some passersby around 10.30am on Wednesday. “For nearly three hours, no one helped him. They were afraid to approach him as they feared he was infected with Coronavirus,” said the first police official, on the condition of anonymity.

At 1.39pm, a passerby called the police control room to inform about the man. “The beat police officer reached the spot and called three ambulances to help the man reach a hospital,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (south).

“One of our constables hurriedly arranged a personal protective equipment kit, wore it and moved the unconscious man into the ambulance,” Thakur said.

The first police official said that the unconscious man was first taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in east Delhi. “Around 7pm, the hospital authorities alerted us that the man died,” said the first official.