Remote Rangamati Villagers Carry Pregnant Woman Through Jungle to Reach Hospital

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A pregnant woman in Bangladesh’s remote Rangamati district was carried for hours on a makeshift bamboo stretcher across rugged, mountainous terrain by villagers to reach a hospital for urgent medical care. The incident, which highlights the critical lack of infrastructure in the region, took place on Saturday morning when 19-year-old Jessica Chakma was transported from the isolated village of Bharatpara in Barkal upazila to the Juraichhari Upazila Health Complex.

Video footage shared on social media captured the arduous journey, showing approximately 10 villagers carefully navigating steep, jungle-covered slopes to carry the woman on a bamboo-and-cloth frame. The journey spans roughly 10 kilometers of trackless wilderness, typically requiring two and a half hours of walking. One local resident, Suman Jyoti Chakma, narrated the struggle in the viral clip, emphasizing that the absence of roads makes traditional emergency transport like ambulances impossible, leaving villagers with no choice but to rely on manual transport for life-saving care.

Suman Chakma, the woman’s husband, reported that her labor began at approximately 10:00 p.m. the previous night. After unsuccessful attempts to manage the birth locally, the family’s situation grew dire, prompting them to begin the grueling trek at 7:00 a.m. Saturday. The group arrived at the health facility by 9:30 a.m., where the mother delivered her first child shortly thereafter.

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Dr. Onyanna Chakma, the health and family planning officer at the Juraichhari facility, confirmed that the mother underwent a successful, natural delivery upon arrival. Medical staff reported that both the mother and her newborn daughter are in stable condition and recovering well. The incident has drawn renewed attention to the dire state of rural healthcare access in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where basic transit infrastructure remains non-existent for many remote communities.