Screenshot taken from the viral accident video (Image: India Today)
Shocking visuals of a pilot vehicle, from the convoy of Kerala’s Education Minister, V Sivankutty crashing an ambulance in Kottarakkara, Pulaman Junction, is getting viral. The collision has left three people injured, including the patient.
The visuals of the accident were caught on surveillance cameras and are now shared widely on social media, causing outrage.
The viral clip, shows the pilot vehicle coming from another direction at a high speed and crashing into the ambulance crossing the circle, causing it to overturn. The pilot vehicle, later collided with a motorcycle, leading to their fall, but they escape unhurt. The police officer at the signal can be seen standing by the ambulance. He was the traffic personnel, who was on duty but he escaped as he ran away.
As the ambulance overturned, all the passengers were deeply injured. They were later admitted to a private hospital in Kottarakkara.
Notably, the minister was travelling from Kottayam to Thiruvananthapuram via MC Road when the accident took place. The minister accompanied the victims to the hospital after the accident. However, the victims quashed the claims saying, he did not pay any visit to them.
According to the report, a case has been registered against the drivers of both the ambulance and the police vehicle.
News agency ANI reported, “Case registered against drivers of an ambulance and Police vehicle after the ambulance collided with Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty’s pilot vehicle. 3 people who were inside the ambulance were injured in the incident”.
Meanwhile, the accident turned into a blame game, as the ambulance driver alleged that the mishap occurred due to the negligent and rash driving of the police jeep, news agency PTI reported. The police, on the other hand, blamed the ambulance driver for allegedly speeding through a traffic junction without checking whether he had the signal to do so and said that it was the ambulance driver’s fault.
As per an officer, quoted in media of the Kottarakkara police station, where the case was registered against both the drivers, the health of the patient and others who were in the ambulance is currently stable. He said the case was registered based on the statement of the patient’s husband, Ashok Kumar.
Ashok Kumar said that he suffered a fracture in the accident. “We expected that the minister would come and find out what had happened to us, but he left the spot in a few minutes,” said Ashok.
A news report quoted the driver of the ambulance saying, even after getting injured the police and other officials misbehaved with him. The report says, when the driver of the ambulance approached the police to register a complaint he got a dressing down from the police officers.
“The police behaved very rudely with me and said I should dump my vehicle (ambulance). They said, I had broken the rules as the traffic signal was off and in that situation, I should not have gone forward as a minister was coming. In fact, the traffic warden at the junction seeing my ambulance had given me the signal to move forward,” said the driver.
The officer further said that the CCTV footage of the accident clearly shows that the policeman on duty had stopped the traffic briefly to allow the escort vehicle and the minister’s car to pass through. “However, the ambulance driver, on reaching the traffic junction, sped through without checking if he had the signal to do so,” news agency PTI, quoted him as saying.
Notably, there is an outrage against the accident on social media, with many people condemning it and calling for VIPs to follow traffic rules.
Here are some reactions on social media:
A verified Twitter user wrote, “The speeding convoy of Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty, travelling on the wrong side, hit an ambulance carrying a patient to a hospital causing injury to the patient Instead of ensuring care for the person, the minister just left after waiting two mins On one hand PM MODI’s convoy gives way to ambulances but here you have VVIP arrogance on display – go wrong side, speed & then run over the ambulance and have no remorse ”
Another verified Twitter user wrote, “Convoy of Kerala Education Minister hit an ambulance. Minister did not even care to stop. That car later hit a bike. Now a case has been registered against the ambulance driver too.”
Another verified Twitter user wrote, “The convoy of Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty hit an ambulance and bike, but a case has been registered against the ambulance driver as well. VIP culture and a sense of Entitlement aren’t going anywhere. That’s lip-service.”
Another verified Twitter user wrote, “Case registered against ambulance driver after the ambulance collided with Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty’s pilot vehicle. Watch the video & tell me if it was the ambulance driver’s mistake?”
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