French tourist dies after falling from platform at UP's Fatehpur Sikri Fort

A French tourist died allegedly after she fell from a platform at the famous Fatehpur Sikri Fort in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district, according to the police sources here.

The woman tourist, identified as 61-year-old Esma Ben Yelles, who was part of a 30-member group visiting India, suffered serious head injuries after hitting the stone floor below and succumbed to her injuries later. The tourists had arrived at the historic fort on Thursday from Jaipur.

Sources said that there was no ambulance at the Fort and the authorities had to call the same from some other place resulting in the loss of crucial hours before she could be provided medical help.

The eyewitnesses said that the ambulance arrived one hour after the incident and it did not have oxygen also. The tourist reached the hospital in Agra, which was 40 kilometres away, three hours after the incident. The doctors declared her dead on arrival, sources said.

Local officials said that the tourist was leaning on a wooden railing and fell down when it gave away. The other officials said that there were too many tourists on the platform when the incident happened.

An Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official said that an ambulance had been stationed permanently at the Taj Mahal, which was in Agra town, but there was no such facility at Fatehpur Sikri. He said that such a facility would also be provided at Fatehpur Sikri also.

A magisterial probe was ordered to ascertain if there was delay in taking the tourist to the hospital, sources added.