Damaged Roads Force Residents in West Sulawesi to Carry Ill Woman on Stretcher for 8 Hours on Foot During Eid

Several residents in Mamuju Regency, West Sulawesi (Sulbar), walked for eight hours while carrying an ill woman on a stretcher to the nearest health centre due to damaged roads. The woman was experiencing respiratory problems.

According to detikSulsel on Friday (27/3/2026), the incident occurred in Karama Village, Kalumpang, Mamuju, on Saturday (21/3), coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr 1447 H holiday. The ill woman is a resident of Patudaan Hamlet.

“I just received communication from the head of the Puskesmas; their explanation is that the incident involved the patient being carried on a stretcher from Patudaan Hamlet, which is a hamlet in Karama Village, and the distance is indeed quite far,” said Kalumpang Sub-district Head, Bram Tosilo, to reporters on Friday (27/3/2026).

Bram stated that the road from Patudaan Hamlet to Karama Puskesmas cannot be reached by four-wheeled vehicles. He explained that the terrain in the area is still undulating and sloping soil. The condition worsens during the rainy season.

“It cannot yet be accessed by four-wheeled vehicles, only two-wheeled ones, and even those are difficult during rain, so no four-wheeled vehicles, which is about an eight-hour walk,” he clarified.

Bram said the patient being carried had respiratory issues. The puskesmas staff immediately referred the patient to a hospital.

In a circulating video, several men are seen carrying the ill woman. The men carried her into the first room of the puskesmas building. One of the men imitated an ambulance siren sound and called the stretcher a ‘bambulans’.

“Bambulans, this is called bambulans,” said the man in the video.