Itahari, February 24:

Ambulance drivers of Sunsari district stayed off the roads today, accusing the local administration of not being serious about their security though they had been threatened with life.

No ambulance operated in Sunsari and Morang districts on the call of the Sunsari Ambulance Drivers’ Association (SADA). They parked more than 35 ambulances on Itahari Chowk in protest and also shouted slogans demanding security for them.

The Koshi flood victims had vandalised an ambulance and thrashed its driver on February 19, SADA president Desh Bahadur Tamang said. “Although we lodged an FIR against the culprit but in vain,” Tamang said. The drivers said they couldn’t guarantee the health of others at a time when their own lives were under threat.

Sunsari CDO Durga Bhandari has urged the drivers to call off their strike and requested them to sit for talk to resolve the crisis.