Migrant worker, walking to home in Jharkhand, dies in Chhattisgarh

BILASPUR: A 40-year-old migrant labourer died in a hospital in Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur district after he reached here while making a trip from Maharashtra to Jharkhand on foot and hitchhiking on goods vehicles amid the nationwide lockdown, health and police officials said on Wednesday.sss

The deceased, Ravi Munda, was part of a group of eight Jharkhand-bound labourers admitted to the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) here on the late night of May 3 after they were found to be ill, said Dr Aarti Pandey, Public Relations Officer of the hospital.

Munda, who was suffering from dehydration and other illnesses, died during treatment on the morning of May 4 due to multi-organ failure, she said.

His swab sample was sent for Coronavirus test which came out negative on Tuesday, Pandey said.

After getting permission from his relatives, his final rites was performed here by a local social organisation, she said.

The remaining seven labourers were discharged after their condition became normal and sent to Jharkhand in a bus arranged by the district administration, she added.

Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal said, as per preliminary information, this group of labourers had left from Nagpur in Maharashtra for their native places in Jharkhand on foot via Chhattisgarh.

In between, they probably took lifts from goods vehicles, permitted to operate during the during the ongoing Coronavirus-enforced lockdown, to cover a distance of about 400km to reach Bilaspur, he said.

After getting information about their health condition, they were shifted to CIMS, he said.