A patient was arrested after stealing the ambulance that had taken him to a hospital in the US state of New York.
The 47-year-old man was taken to a Manhattan hospital for observation on Thursday, according to the AP news agency which quoted local police.
The ambulance the man had ridden in is said to have been parked outside the hospital unlocked, unoccupied and with the keys in the ignition when he left the medical facility some minutes to 5 a.m.
Mukumu Girls’ High School has been closed indefinitely following the death of two students, who were taken ill after a food poisoning incident.
In a statement, the Western Region director of education Jared Obiero said the incident left at least 500 students fell sick with bacteria infections after consuming the food.
“Mukumu Girls High school has been closed indefinitely after two students died and over 500 others infected with bacteria infections after consuming intoxicated food and contaminated water,” Obiero said.
In a statement, the school principal Fridah Nodlo confirmed the two died at their homes in Bungoma and Kakamega counties.
“Let us pray for our students and Mukumu community. If we take a child home for treatment, let us take them to hospital and monitor. We have lost two students, Wendy Oyugi Amani who passed on in Bungoma and Miriam Namajanja, who had not resumed from half-term break, passed on this morning at their home in Navakholo. God give us grace and wisdom to go through this trying moment,” the principal said.
The man drove off and had covered 40 kilometers when police tracked the ambulance by GPS, tracked it down and tried to stop it but the driver failed to stop.
The vehicle was finally stopped when police put up a tire-spiking device that left the ambulance’s tires deflated after the man tried to drive past it.
He was arrested on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and driving while intoxicated, among others.
