An 18-year-old boy died of snakebite at Surandai in the district on Wednesday.

According to the relatives, Akash, 18, of Surandai had gone to his maternal uncle’s house in the same area, where he and his relative Chinnadurai suffered snakebite on Tuesday night. After the victims could not get antidote in the local hospital, they were taken to Primary Health Centre at Veerakeralampudur.

As no anti-venom medicine was available there, the relatives rushed them to the government hospital at Alangulam and then went to a private hospital as the antidote was not available in Alangulam Government Hospital also.

Following the first-aid in the private hospital, they took Akash and Chinnadurai to the Tenkasi Government Hospital in critical condition and hence were referred to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TVMCH). However, Akash breathed his last even before reaching the hospital.

“The victim could have been saved if the anti-venom medicines had been stocked in the rural hospitals and the primary health centres,” complained the relatives.

However, the doctors at TVMCH said Akash could have been saved easily had he been brought to the hospital on time. “Without understanding the seriousness and condition of the victims, they had casually taken both the victims to different hospitals and wasted precious time,” said a doctor in TVMCH.

A senior official affiliated to the Department of Public Health said the antidote doses were being sent to all government hospitals and the Primary Health Centres at regular intervals as snakebites were on the rise during this harsh summer due to the increased movement of the reptiles.

“Due to the increased incidents of snakebites, the hospitals had exhausted the doses and this particular incident has happened even as the fresh stocks are about to reach the hospitals,” the official said.