Maldives: Teenager Dies Due To Delayed Medical Evacuation Amid India's Dornier Aircraft Reportedly Grounded Over Muizzu's Deadline

Maldives MP Meekail Naseem said that people should not have to pay with their lives to satisfy President Mohamed Muizzu's animosity towards India after a teenager died due to an alleged lack of prompt medical evacuation.

Naseem's statement might be pointing towards Muizzu's 'India Out' call, under which India has been given a deadline of 15 March to withdraw all its troops.

Currently, India manages a few Dornier aircraft with 70-80 troops in Maldives mainly for humanitarian aid and supplies in the island nation.

As the medical evacuation got delayed, it might be because India's services facing some obstruction due to the withdrawal deadline. Reportedly, the Dornier aircraft have been grounded.

According to the statement of Aasandha Company Limited, which is responsible for medical evacuations, the evacuation could be made possible only after 12 hours of request "due to a technical problem."

However, the Maldivian media quotes the family of the teenager who died as alleging that the authorities failed to arrange medical evacuation promptly. The 14-year-old had a brain tumour and suffered a stroke.

The boy was required to be airlifted from Gaaf Alif Villingili to Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital Maldives' capital city Male for treatment.