ZIMBABWE – A pregnant woman died on Sunday after an ambulance taking her to Bulawayo from Nkayi overturned near Inyathi.
The deceased, Patricia Nyoni (35), had been referred to Nkayi District Hospital from Mateme Clinic after developing complications during childbirth.
She was diagnosed with hand prolapse and transverse lie (medical terms for a baby positioned horizontally across the uterus, rather than vertically, with a hand coming out first).
Staff at Nkayi determined that she needed an emergency operation which the hospital could not conduct and referred her to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
An ambulance was dispatched to rush her to Mpilo Central Hospital at around 8 AM on Sunday. Said a ZimLive source:
A wheel came off in an extremely bad part of the road and the ambulance overturned.
The driver escaped unhurt but a nurse was treated at Inyathi hospital after sustaining some injuries.
Matabeleland North provincial medical director Dr Admire Kureru confirmed the accident to ZimLive. He said:
I can confirm that one of our Nkayi ambulances was involved in an accident on Sunday, and it appears a patient died.
I’m still to get the finer details from the district medical officer.
Nkayi District Hospital has two ambulances, the one that crashed and another one donated by the European Union but has been out of service for months.
The accident has left Nkayi District without a working ambulance.
