A 15-year-old girl, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after three miscreants set her ablaze in Odisha's Puri district, was airlifted to Delhi on Sunday, officials said. Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena told reporters that a green corridor was set up to take the patient from AIIMS Bhubaneswar to Biju Patnaik International Airport, and one platoon of police force was deployed. Bhubaneswar Traffic DCP Tapan Kumar Mohanty said that the ambulance carrying the patient reached the airport from AIIMS Bhubaneswar within 10 to 12 minutes. She was taken in an advanced life support ambulance with a dedicated medical team. A green corridor in the context of healthcare refers to a special, cleared-out route for ambulances transporting organs for transplantation or severely ill patients to reach their destination in the shortest possible time. After reaching the airport, she boarded an air ambulance for the national capital, where she would be admitted to AIIMS Delhi, they said.
The girl, with 70 per cent burns, was on oxygen support in the ICU at the Department of Burn Centre in AIIMS Bhubaneswar. "The patient's condition is stable, and her blood pressure, which was low yesterday, has improved. It's safe to transfer her," AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Ashutosh Biswas told reporters before her departure. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said that the state government was planning to airlift the minor to Delhi for better treatment. Majhi, however, said AIIMS Bhubaneswar authorities will take a decision considering her health condition. As the victim was able to speak on Saturday, the police have recorded her statement in the presence of a magistrate at the ICU, an official said, adding that her statement is vital for the investigation. Preliminary police investigation revealed that three motorcycle-borne youths intercepted the teenager, forcibly took her to the banks of Bhargavi River near Bayabar village in Balanga police station area, poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire on Saturday. The miscreants fled the spot after the incident, police said. Local people doused the fire and later took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The girl's mother has lodged an FIR with Balanga police station, officials said, adding the victim was a class 8 dropout and her father works at a motor garage.