Gadchiroli, Jul 25 (PTI) The body of a 23-year-old man had to be tied to a wooden cot and taken on a two-wheeler, as his family could not get an ambulance or hearse in a remote area of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

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A district official, however, claimed that the family members of the deceased man only travelled a short distance with the body on the two-wheeler before an ambulance reached the scene.

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The man, who was a resident of Krushnar village in Bhamragadh taluka, was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and died at a private hospital in Hemalkasa on July 20.

According to reports, when the man's family could not get an ambulance to move the body from the hospital, they fixed a wooden cot to a two-wheeler to take the body home for last rites.

Talking to PTI, a senior district health official said the family could not contact the municipal council or health department staffers to arrange for a hearse or ambulance, and decided to move the body on their own.

However, a police patrolling vehicle soon spotted the two-wheeler and called up the taluka health officer to arrange an ambulance, he said.

An ambulance then took the body to a government hospital for other formalities and transported it 17 km for last rites, the official said.

As it was a remote area without proper mobile network connectivity, the family may have decided to transport the body on their own. However, as soon as the health department was alerted, necessary assistance was provided.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)