According to reports from the Greek press, a tragic incident occurred on the Greek island of Thasos involving a Czech tourist. The woman, estimated to be between 45 and 50 years old, collapsed and passed away on Astridas beach shortly after exiting the sea. Eyewitnesses revealed that she waited for approximately 50 minutes before an ambulance finally arrived.
Regrettably, the ambulance had been occupied with an emergency at another location on the island, causing a delay in its response. Witnesses disclosed that four Romanian tourists attempted to revive the woman, who had a discernible pulse for over 40 minutes. Nevertheless, when the ambulance eventually reached the scene, it was too late, as reported by keeptalkinggreece.com. Subsequently, the woman’s body was transported by the ambulance, and an autopsy was scheduled.
Following the tourist’s tragic demise, members of the healthcare sector and the far-left SYRIZA party organized protests to highlight the deficiencies in the medical services available on the island.
The sole ambulance operating on the island became a point of concern. Kostas Tsitsilikakis, a representative of the ambulance service, explained that despite the presence of four ambulances, only one was functional due to a lack of staff. Tsitsilikakis stated that discussions had taken place with the island’s management the previous week, urging for an increase in the number of paramedics and the restoration of at least one more operational ambulance.
In response to the incident, Romanian tourists also took to the Forum Thassos Facebook group to call upon the local authorities to improve the quality of medical care. They emphasized the need for adequate medical services on tourist-populated islands and expressed disbelief that the only ambulance available on the island had to travel 30 kilometers and take 51 minutes to reach the deceased, as cited by local website Kavala News.
