PETALING JAYA, Sept 14 — Investigations into the death of a senior citizen who fell to the ground after an ambulance wheel stretcher retracted at Jelebu Hospital has commenced.

"We are finding out the details of the accident. The family deserves an explanation,” said Negri Sembilan Health Department deputy director, Dr Zainuddin Mohd Ali.

"We are in the midst of trying to establish what happened as there must be a substantial reason for the stretcher to malfunction.”

Yesterday, the Malay Mail frontpaged the incident of motorcyclist Yu Yew Kuan, who was involved in an accident along Jalan Besar Kim Loong, Jelebu, on Aug 6.

An ambulance was despatched to the scene and when the senior citizen was being wheeled into the vehicle, the wheel of the stretcher retracted and he fell onto the road.

The 62-year-old was lifted onto the stretcher and rushed to Jelebu Hospital.

On arrival, when the stretcher was brought out, the wheel retracted once again, sending the unconscious patient hurling to the ground face down.

Medical personnel quickly lifted the patient and wheeled him into the emergency and trauma department.

His condition worsened and was taken to Seremban Hospital where he died just before midnight.

Dr Zainuddin said the department was expected to complete investigations by the end of the week.

"We are doing all we can to obtain information about this case.”

Meanwhile, medical sources disclosed an incident report had been completed over the matter.

The report included the ambulance responding to the emergency call following the road accident, the second misfortune which took place at the district hospital and his death at Seremban Hospital.

"It is our duty to record and submit reports on incidents which take place at the hospital grounds so that the state Health Department is aware of it,” he said.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department chief, Datuk Seri Michael Chong, said the organisation would consider providing legal assistance to the family.

"I will need to discuss with my team and find out more about this case but we can provide legal assistance since they don’t earn much,” he said.

He said the family can always seek assistance from the Negri Sembilan MCA legal bureau if they would like to file a lawsuit against the hospital.

"The members of the family can assign a lawyer to fight the case and seek compensation if the hospitals are found to be negligent,” he said.