A six-day-old infant lost its life due to lack of timely medical attention after an ambulance carrying him could not manage diesel on time in Ghorahi of Dang district on Monday.

The incident took place when the ambulance staffers were searching for diesel after Gorkha Public Hospital referred the six-day-old infant baby to Butwal.

The two hours long pursuit of diesel for the ambulance registered as Ra 1 Cha 587 on which the child was kept became futile, leading to the child’s death, said deceased infant’s grandfather Ghanshyam Gharti. Father Lekh Bahadur Gharti and mother Lila Gharti of Rampur-6 in the district were left grief-stricken.

Ambulance driver Poshan Bhandari said that the traffic police provided them a coupon for Boby Petrol Pump but to no avail as the pump said it had run out of oil. Another coupon for Arunodaya Petrol Pump also went unsuccessful as it too did not have any oil to distribute. But the child could not survive until this vain pillar-to-post quest for oil.

However, Chief District Officer Deepak Kafle refused to acknowledge the infant’s death due to timely unavailability of fuel. According to him, the child succumbed as a result of the seriousness of his health. He claimed arrangements have been made to ensure fuel for ambulance despite the shortage of fuel in the district.