Thaindian News

Guwahati, June 16 (IANS) The death of a passenger at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati Saturday raised serious questions about the facilities available at the airport.

Narendra Saha arrived at the LGBI airport Saturday afternoon and was waiting for a connecting flight to Mumbai, which was scheduled to leave at 6.35 p.m.

However, Saha felt uneasiness while waiting inside the terminal and collapsed immediately, said sources at LGBI and added that as there was no doctor available at the airport, he was shifted to the Azara civil hospital, the nearest hospital located about 5 km from the airport.

The doctors at the Azara civil hospital, however, declared him brought dead, police said.

Director of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) S.C. Hota confirmed the incident to IANS and justified that the passenger could not be given immediate medical attention as the AAI doctor was not available at that moment.

“The passenger came from Imphal and was supposed to leave for Mumbai by an evening flight. However, he collapsed inside the terminal due to some sickness. As our doctor was on leave, we shifted him to the nearest hospital by the AAI ambulance, where doctors declared him brought dead,” said Hota while refuting any lapse on their part.

The incident has raised questions about the facilities available at the LGBI airport. On June 10 too, passengers of an Air India flight, which made an emergency landing at the LGBI airport due to some technical problems, complained about the medical facilities at the airport.

“I was present in the airport when the incident took place today. There were no doctors at the airport. The passenger lay unattended for some time and then he was shifted to the Azara hospital. The question is whether there should be doctors and other medical staff present at an international level airport? If there should be, then it is surely a lapse on the part of the airport authority here,” said Rajiv Das, another passenger at the airport.