A government hospital in Bhadrachalam has come under sharp criticism after the grieving family of a deceased patient was allegedly forced to carry his body on their shoulders because no ambulance was available at the facility.
The incident, which occurred at Bhadrachalam Government Area Hospital, has sparked outrage among local residents and renewed concerns over the condition of public healthcare infrastructure and emergency services in government hospitals.
The deceased has been identified as Kande Venkanna, a 42-year-old resident of Subhash Nagar in Bhadrachalam town.
According to hospital officials, Venkanna had been admitted to the government hospital after reportedly suffering from severe dehydration and heatstroke amid rising temperatures in the region.
He died while undergoing treatment on Sunday night.
Family members alleged that after his death, hospital authorities failed to arrange an ambulance to transport the body back home despite government provisions requiring hospitals to provide such facilities to deceased patients.
Unable to immediately arrange or afford a private vehicle, relatives of the deceased reportedly carried Venkanna’s body on their shoulders from the hospital ward.
The distressing visuals and eyewitness accounts from the hospital premises quickly triggered anger among residents and people on social media, many questioning why grieving families were being left to struggle for basic services during such traumatic moments.
According to officials, the family eventually arranged a private ambulance that had been stationed some distance away from the hospital.
Dr Ramakrishna, Superintendent of the hospital, stated that the hospital ambulance was unavailable because it had been sent to a workshop for repairs.
He explained that the family carried the body from the ward area to the private ambulance, which was reportedly parked around 500 metres away from the hospital building.
“The family approached a private ambulance to take the body home. The hospital ambulance was under repair at a workshop,” the superintendent said while explaining the circumstances surrounding the incident.
However, the explanation has done little to calm public anger.
Residents and local observers questioned why no alternative arrangement had been made by hospital authorities when the official ambulance service was unavailable.
Many criticised the condition of emergency infrastructure in government hospitals, especially at a time when heat-related illnesses and dehydration cases are rising across multiple states due to extreme summer temperatures.
The incident has also reignited broader concerns about the quality of public healthcare services, emergency response systems, and patient support mechanisms available in smaller towns and district-level government hospitals.
Locals expressed frustration that families already coping with grief should not be forced into such humiliating and distressing situations because of administrative failures or lack of preparedness.
The visuals from the incident have since spread widely online, intensifying criticism of the healthcare system and prompting calls for accountability and improved emergency facilities in government hospitals across the state.
