Death toll rises to four in Kerala due to blockade at Karnataka border

Kasaragod, Mar 31: A 49-year-old critically ill patient died on Tuesday after Karnataka police allegedly denied permission to allow his ambulance to cross the border at Thalpadi on the Kasaragod-Mangaluru national highway, police said.

According to police, Sekhar of Manjeswaram near here died of cardiac arrest. He was being taken to Mangaluru for follow-up treatment.

Critically ill patients from Kasaragod have since long being thronging the multi-speciality and high-tech hospitals in the neighbouring state as it is closer than the facilities in the neighbouring districts of Kerala.

Four seriously ill patients have died since Karnataka closed the borders following the lockdown. A pregnant woman was delivered of a baby in the ambulance as its entry was blocked at Thalapadi.