Karkala: Often misfortunes come in bunches. A similar incident took place
Ashwath Poojary (21), of Suralu Gundaje in Miyar, was riding his bike from Bajagoli towards Karkala, with his neighbour Manjunath Poojary (21) in the pillion.
At Kajarabail, he overtook a bus but while doing so failed to notice another bus approaching from the opposite direction. As this bus hit the bike head on, they both were thrown to the road and sustained severe head injuries. After being given first aid in a local government hospital, they were rushed to Mangaluru.
But more misfortunes awaited them on the way. The fuel tank of the 108 ambulance went dry. When the driver stopped over to fill the tank at a filling station on the way, there already happened to be a long queue of vehicles waiting for their turns.
The members of the families of the injured appealed to those people to allow them first, which found a favourable response, but the driver had no provision for payment for diesel. The families footed the bill. In this process, fifteen precious minutes were lost. The family members said that there was even no drinking water available in the ambulance.
As a result of this delay, Ashwath could not be admitted to the hospital in time and hence succumbed to the injuries on the way. Manjunath’s condition is quite critical.
The deceased Ashwath was employed in Bengaluru for the last two years. He had come to attend his aunt’s marriage a few days ago.
Just before the mishap took place he had gone to the Miyar panchayat office to get the wrong date on his birth certificate corrected. But the cruel fate decided on the last date of life as well.