2 minor brothers die of snakebite in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran, September 18

Two minor brothers from Munda Pind village in Tarn Taran district died of a snake bite. The children were bitten by a snake while they were asleep at night. The family took both of them to the hospital but they did not survive. The incident sent shock waves among the residents of Mand area on Monday. The deceased siblings have been identified as Gurdit Singh (7) and Princepal Singh (8).

Father of the two brothers Bikkar Singh and mother Balwinder Kaur said that at night, both the brothers slept in the same room. At 5 o’clock in the morning, one of the brothers complained of pain in his ear and the other complained of pain in his wrist. Their ears and wrists were swollen.

The family was shocked to see this. They were immediately taken to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Fatehbad hospital where there was no staff to attend to them. The family took them to the Civil Hospital, Tarn Taran, but one of the brothers had died by then.

The family said that the doctors had started treating them at the hospital, but it was too late by then. Doctors from the Tarn Taran Civil Hospital referred one of the surviving brothers to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, where he died soon after. Both the brothers died during treatment.

The villagers have urged the government to provide financial help to the family, so that they can get some relief in this time of sorrow.

The residents said that the state government in keeping with its policy had shut down the PHC at Fatehbad and established an Aam Aadmi Clinic where medical facility was available till 2 pm on a working day.

A team from Goindwal Sahib police station led by sub-inspector Jassa Singh visited the spot and collected information.

The village elders did not allow the post-mortem of the bodies.