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Psychiatrist notes queue deaths due to stress, lack of food, water, medicine

08 Jul 2022

BY Dinitha Rathnayake With the death of a three-wheeler driver who was waiting in a fuel queue outside a filling station in Payagala yesterday (7) taking the death toll at queues to around 15, consultant psychiatrist at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, Dr. Rumi Ruban said that psychological stress and the lack of nutrition, hydration, and medication are the main reasons for deaths – including those due to heart attacks – reported from queues. Speaking to The Morning, he said that when people stand in the queues for hours or maybe days, they experience a certain amount of stress and uncertainty. “Some are without food and water and in the case of the latter, the body gets dehydrated. Some forget to take their medicines.” According to Dr. Ruban, the possibility of suffering a heart attack in such situations is high. The recent death of a 60-year-old three-wheeler driver, who died while waiting in line at a Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) fuel station in Payagala yesterday (7), has brought the estimated number of deaths in Sri Lanka’s fuel queues to 15. The man had been in the fuel queue in Payagala when he had suddenly fallen ill. The Police said that he had died after being admitted to hospital. He has been identified as a resident of Moratuwa. Another person died while in a queue at a fuel station a few days back, along Tickell Road in Borella. The man reportedly died inside his vehicle. The deceased was a 60-year-old male. A 19-year-old male died in a fuel queue in Pandulagama, Anuradhapura, last month. The youth had been on his motorbike in a fuel line that was blocking a greater part of the road when a tipper truck collided with the bike, leaving him dead, the Police Media Division said on 24 June. Prior to that, a 63-year-old man passed away inside his vehicle on 23 June. The man was identified as a resident of Batagoda in Anguruwatota. Police said that he had been waiting in line for several days. Meanwhile, the St. John Ambulance has decided to provide medical support for people who are in fuel queues.


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