Security fallout: PM expresses regret over death of man at PGIMER

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday wrote to the family of a man who died at the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh for want of timely treatment during his visit to the hospital and expressed his regrets.

"The prime minister wrote to his family and expressed regret (over the death)," an official at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told IANS.

The official said the prime minister said the death occurred under unfortunate circumstances.

Sumit Prakash Verma, 32, died Tuesday after the vehicle carrying him to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh could not enter the emergency area in time for treatment, his relatives alleged. The prime minister was at the time visiting the hospital for its 30th convocation.

The family of Verma, who was suffering from a major kidney ailment and had breathing trouble, alleged that their vehicle which had come from Ambala, 45 km from Chandigarh, was stopped at different gates of the institute by securitymen, leading to wastage of crucial time.

Verma is survived by his wife and two children.

Soon after his death, the PMO asked for a report from PGIMER on the circumstances. The hospital, however, said that no one had been stopped from entering the premises.

On Wednesday, his family demanded that they be given compensation and also a job to a kin as it was the prime minister's security apparatus that delayed his reaching the PGIMER for treatment.