An elderly accident victim who possibly required hospitalisation but received only first aid from the night-duty staff in a government hospital died on being sent back home early on Monday.

Knocked down by a truck at the Narkeldanga Main Road-Canal East Road crossing around 10.10pm on Sunday, Hamida Khatoon, 62, was bleeding profusely when she was taken to NRS Medical College and Hospital.

Sheikh Raju, one of those who escorted her to the hospital, said the doctors took only a cursory look at her before concluding that “her injuries were not serious enough” to warrant hospitalisation.

“From what we could gather, her left leg was fractured and she had chest and hand injuries. She was also bleeding from the nose and crying out in pain. The doctors who were on duty examined her for a few seconds and instructed the nurse to give her first aid. Once that was over, they asked us to take her home. We requested them to admit her, but they wouldn’t listen to us,” Raju said.

As family members were taking Hamida to her Canal East Road home in a taxi around 3am, she complained of acute chest and leg pain before collapsing.

This time, the escorts decided to take her to Medical College and Hospital. They reached the emergency ward of the hospital around 3.35am, but Hamida was declared dead on arrival.

“Sheer negligence on the part of the doctors at NRS led to her death. She was writhing in pain, but the doctors gave her only first aid. They said she would be fine and asked us to take her home. Then why did she die?” a member of the family asked.

Officials at NRS said they were unaware of any such dispute. “We have not received a complaint from the family. We will definitely look into the allegation if they file one,” one of them said.

Narkeldanga police station said in its case diary that Hamida was “critically injured” on being hit by the truck. “She was bleeding from the mouth and nose and local residents took her to NRS. We arrested the driver and impounded the vehicle.”

Bengal’s largest referral hospital, SSKM, had come under the scanner last month for denying admission to two youths injured in a road accident. The duo lay under the shade of a tree in the compound for hours before media attention forced the hospital to take them in.