New Delhi: A two-day-old infant in Sri Lanka became the latest victim of the ongoing economic and political meltdown. The family could not manage petrol for the automobile to take the infant to the hospital in the island nation's central highlands region. Shanaka Roshan Pathirana, Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) at Diyatalawa hospital who conducted the post-mortem of the infant, penned an emotional note shared on his social handle.
The incident happened in Haldamulla, around 190 km from the capital of Colombo when the parents were desperately looking to rush their baby to the hospital after she showed signs of jaundice and refused to breastfeed, according to news agency IANS.
The father kept searching for petrol for hours amid this ongoing crisis. Even though they managed to take the baby to a hospital, the doctors had to transfer her to an Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) at the Diyatalawa Hospital. By the time baby reached the hospital her health had deteriorated and passed away.
"It was sad to conduct the post-mortem as all organs of the baby were well grown. The depressing memory for the parents that they could not save their baby just because they could not find a litre of petrol would haunt them forever," Pathirana wrote in a social media post.
He accused the political authorities of failing to help people amidst the worst-ever economic crisis.
Meanwhile, education minister Susil Premajayantha reached out to the nation in helping transport children taking their crucial GCE Ordinary Level exams on Monday.
"In the name of humanity please help and give a lift to a child who is getting delayed to go for the exams without transport. Also please don't block the road for the students and the examiners," the minister pleaded.
(With IANS Inputs)