May 24: The family of a 47-year-old man who was taken ill on a water slide at Aquatica and died shortly after has lodged a complaint of negligence against the amusement park and the nursing home where he was treated.

Ajay Shah, wife Shital and their two children had entered Aquatica, near Rajarhat, with some relatives from Ranchi around 12.30pm on May 16. Around 3pm, Ajay and his brother-in-law Mukesh Kumar climbed to the starting point of the Raft Slide, a downward water spiral with multiple curves and loops culminating in a shallow pool at the bottom.

"They both went up around 46ft from the ground to board the rafts. After some time, we noticed my brother-in-law coming down the slide. When he reached the ground, he looked exhausted and said that my husband was stuck somewhere up in the slide," Shital, a resident of Netaji Nagar in south Calcutta, told Metro.

Shital alleged that despite her screaming, none of the guards and other staff went to her husband's rescue. "We had to seek help from other visitors. Four of them and I scaled the slide for about 15feet till the point where a raft was stuck with my husband in it," she said.

Ajay was gasping for breath when he was brought down. "A guard had arrived by then. Since there was no first-aid box or medical help, they asked me to resuscitate my husband. He was still breathing, albeit very slowly. We had to almost drag him till the main gate, where a vehicle arranged by Aquatica was waiting to take us to a nursing home," Shital said.

At the nursing home, close to the water-theme park, the Shahs were kept waiting for news about Ajay's medical condition. "After 30 minutes, they declared that my husband was in a critical condition and that he should be moved to a better hospital. They did not even have an oxygen mask," Shital recounted.

Ajay was taken to a super-speciality hospital on the Bypass, where doctors said he had died 25 minutes earlier.

Calcutta Leather Complex police station has started a case of causing death by negligence against the amusement park and the nursing home.

Ajay was a branch manager at a tyre-manufacturing unit. Shital said her husband did not have medical history of any serious illness.

In a post on a social media site, the couple's teenage daughter said: "... This place (the amusement park) lacks basic medical facilities, with no in-house doctor, with no lifeguards who have basic knowledge in first aid or even an equipped ambulance as stand-by."

Additional police commissioner Vishal Garg said: "We have started a case and will examine Aquatica officials shortly."