A newborn baby, a doctor and two others were burnt to death after an ambulance carrying them caught fire near Modasa town in Gujarat’s Arvalli district early Tuesday, police said.
According to police inspector DB Vala, the fire broke out around 1 am on the Modasa–Dhansura road while the one-day-old infant — who had been unwell since birth — was being shifted from a Modasa-based hospital to a private facility in Ahmedabad for further treatment.
The victims included the child; his father, Jignesh Mochi (38); doctor Shantilal Rentia (30) of Ahmedabad; and nurse Bhuriben Manat (23) of Arvalli, Vala said.
Three others — the ambulance driver and two relatives of Mochi — sustained burn injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital.
"Jignesh Mochi was a native of neighbouring Mahisagar district and his newborn child was under treatment at a private hospital in Modasa after birth. When he was being taken to another private hospital, the ambulance caught fire on its way due to some unknown reason," Vala said.
CCTV footage released by police shows the ambulance slowing down near a petrol pump after the driver noticed flames at the rear of the vehicle.
"While the driver and two of Mochi's relatives, who were on the front seat, escaped with injuries, the infant, his father, along with the doctor and a nurse, who were on the back side of the vehicle, were charred to death in the blaze," Vala said.
Although the local fire brigade reached the spot shortly after being alerted, the four victims could not be saved, he added.
The injured have been identified as driver Ankit Thakor and Mochi’s relatives Gaurang Mochi and Gitaben Mochi.
District Superintendent of Police Manoharsinh Jadeja said forensic experts have been called in to determine what caused the fire and led to the tragedy.