Kanchanpur, July 6 -- A 14-year-old snakebite patient from Kanchanpur died on the way to Dhangadhi for treatment on Wednesday morning. The patient was first taken to Mahakali Zonal Hospital in Bhimdatta Municipality in Kanchanpur, but the public institute referred the patient to Dhangadhi since it didn't have a ventilator.

This is the second snakebite patient that the hospital referred elsewhere in the Nepali month of Asadh. The hospital has seen four snakebite patients this month, two of whom received treatment at the hospital.

Patients who need critical care after a snake bite cannot be treated at the hospital, as it lacks ventilators, said Hari Shrestha, medical superintendent at Mahakali hospital.

"Moreover, we currently don't have...