Shivpuri (MP):
In a heart-wrenching tragedy, a 24-year-old migrant worker died here after his fellow travelers, except his friend, left him behind on their way to Uttar Pradesh.
A photograph of Mohammed Yaqoob (23) weeping and cradling his friend Amrit’s lifeless body in his lap went viral on Saturday.
Amrit, who was running high fever, died on Friday night at the district hospital here, said a doctor.
Yaqoob said they had set out for their hometown, Basti in UP, from Gujarat after the garment factory in Surat where they worked shut down.
They paid Rs 4,000 each for the ride in a truck from Surat.
But when Amrit fell sick as they neared Kolaras town, others in the truck insisted that he should be dumped.
Yaqoob, however, decided not to leave his friend alone, so the driver dropped the two at Kolaras by-pass.
Yaqoob took his friend to the Shivpuri district hospital with the help of some local people where Amrit died on Friday night.
Civil surgeon Dr P K Khare said that the samples of both the deceased, Amrit, and Yaqoob have been sent for COVID-19 testing. Yaqoob has been kept in isolation ward due to suspicion of coronavirus infection, he said.
