Unborn child dies after ambulance stalls in pothole on Agra village road

In the early hours of Sept 3, a 25-year-old woman named Nidhi entered active labour in Gadhbar village, Agra district, prompting a call for an emergency ambulance. The vehicle reached the village but soon plunged into a massive pothole on the connecting link road, leaving it stuck in mud despite the driver’s attempts. Villagers organized a tractor and spent almost two hours trying to extract the ambulance, finally reaching a community health centre at roughly 3:30 am.

Doctors confirmed that the unborn child had died in the womb due to the critical delay, while the mother was stabilised through emergency surgery. Locals, including Bhanu Pratap Singh, allege that the Public Works Department had repaired the road only six months earlier and that heavy rains had already damaged it, with repeated pleas for repair going unanswered. At a Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas meeting, residents demanded a durable cement-concrete road and accountability. Bah sub-divisional magistrate Vinod Kumar said the PWD had been informed and that work would be completed soon, adding that an inquiry is underway.