Patient carried on cot for 5km as ambulance fails to reach village in Malkangiri

In yet another distressing reminder of the poor state of rural infrastructure, a patient was carried on a cot for nearly five kilometres after an ambulance failed to reach Samakund village under Khairaput block in Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Thursday.

According to reports, the patient’s family had called for an ambulance to transport their ailing relative to a nearby hospital. However, the emergency vehicle could not make its way to the village due to severely damaged and non-motorable roads. With no other option, family members and villagers lifted the patient on a cot and trudged through rough terrain from Samakund to Sargiguda — a journey of about five kilometres.

Despite the incident drawing public attention, there has been no official statement from the block or district administration so far. Locals expressed deep anguish over the repeated neglect of remote tribal areas and urged authorities to provide proper road connectivity, especially in regions that remain cut off during emergencies.

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This incident mirrors a similar tragedy from August this year, when an ailing woman from Jabaguda village in Nabarangpur district was carried through waterlogged paths on a cot after an ambulance failed to reach her. She later succumbed to her illness, underscoring how the absence of basic infrastructure continues to claim innocent lives in Odisha’s most remote pockets.