- Mother carried son 1km on cot due to collapsed bridge.
- 13-year-old boy died after ambulance couldn't reach.
- Tragedy exposes poor infrastructure in Odisha's Keonjhar.
Jagran Correspondent, Barbil | A heartbreaking picture of poor infrastructure and administrative negligence has emerged from Jhaliapada village in the Patna police station area of Keonjhar district in Odisha. A woman had to run for nearly a kilometre carrying her 13-year-old son on her shoulder and later on a cot to save him as the bridge collapsed due to rain and the ambulance was unable to reach.
The mother's relentless struggle proved futile, and the child was declared dead by doctors upon reaching the hospital. According to the incident, Meena Mahanto, wife of late Rohit Mahanto, a resident of Jhaliapada, had gone to the pond near their house with her 13-year-old son Naresh.
Woman Jumped Into Pond To Save Her Son
Naresh went into the deep water and began drowning. Seeing her son's slippers, Meena immediately jumped into the pond and pulled him out.
Ambulance Could Not Reach
The family immediately called 108 ambulance, but due to heavy rains, the bridge on Suakati drain was washed away, and the ambulance could not reach the village. The distraught mother, determined not to give up, ran, first carrying her son on her shoulders. When her body finally gave out, she, with the help of her sister-in-law, Minati Mahant, carried her son onto a cot and carried him to an ambulance parked about a kilometre away.
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The ambulance then took the boy via another long route to the Patna Community Health Centre, where doctors declared him dead. Naresh was one of his twin brothers. This was a double blow for his mother after the death of his father.
A video of a mother carrying her son on a cot went viral on social media, sparking widespread anger among locals. Villagers have demanded the reconstruction of the bridge and the concreting of the two roads connecting the village. This tragedy has exposed the poor network and infrastructure in rural areas during the monsoon.
(With Inputs from Jagran Reporter Girdhari Lal)