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AMU Professor Dies As Ambulance Takes Six Hours To Arrive

Professor D Murthy was suffering from cancer.
AMU

An ailing professor at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) died waiting for an ambulance for over six hours on Tuesday.

According to reports, 64-year-old Professor D. Murthy was a cancer patient, and doctors had advised that he be shifted to Delhi from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), which is situated on AMU campus, after his condition deteriorated following a surgery on Monday.

Several students and teachers reportedly said that an ambulance was not arranged in time because of paperwork.

"An ambulance wasn't available. There was no coordination within the hospital. What was the need to fill up the form?" NDTV quoted university's spokesperson S. Peerzada as saying.

Murthy, who was the chairman of AMU's department of modern Indian languages, had been suffering from a stomach ache for past several days and was admitted to JNMC on Sunday morning where he was diagnosed with advanced cancer.

Mustafa Zaidi, a professor at the university, blamed the "indifferent attitude" of the doctors towards the plight of a common man.

"Even after we referred him to Delhi, an ambulance was not available for hours," Mohammad Aslam, the chairman of the surgery department at JNMC, reportedly said.

Dr Tariq Mansoor, principal JNMC, however defended the hospital saying, "JNMC doesn't provide ambulance to the AMU staff. The university has to arrange the same."

A three-member committee has been constituted to probe Professor Murthy's death. The committee will submit its report by 5 November, the Indian Express reported.

In September, five doctors at the hospital were booked after a student died of dengue while being treated at the hospital.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.