PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 29 -- A pregnant woman and her unborn child died after allegedly remaining trapped in a massive traffic jam while her family was rushing her to a hospital here on Tuesday morning. According to her family members, they remained stuck in the traffic on the Shastri Bridge for around one-and-a-half hours and the woman and her unborn child died around 11 am. Residents of Bani village under Hanumanganj police station jurisdiction, Suryakant Gautam, a mason, and his 32-year-old wife Seema were trying to reach the hospital when Seema went into labour. Initially taken to the community health centre (CHC), Bani, doctors there referred her to a larger facility in the city, located around 15 km away, due to her critical condition. However, their journey was halted at Shastri Bridge, where a multi-vehicle collision around 9.30 am blocked one lane completely, while heavy congestion in the other lane owing to office going crowds and Chhath Puja pilgrims brought the traffic to a grinding halt. Despite desperate efforts by the family to seek help from passers-by, and later from a government ambulance that allegedly arrived too late, Seema and her unborn child died in the car after struggling for over an hour. Chief medical officer, Prayagraj, Dr AK Tiwari said as per information received from the superintendent of Bani CHC, the family took the woman first to a private hospital in Sahson and then to another one in Jhunsi instead of rushing her to SRN Hospital as advised by doctors at the CHC. "I have sought a detailed report about the incident and would move ahead based on it," he said. Lalji Gautam, the brother of the woman's father-in-law who was in the vehicle at the time of the incident, blamed 'police inaction' and 'poor traffic management' for the deaths. "From the CHC, we took her to a nearby private hospital but here too the doctors cited complications and referred us to a bigger facility and so we started heading towards the city before getting stuck in the traffic jam," he said. "Despite a desperate search for police and help, we failed to find anyone who could help us or clear the traffic jam. Staff of an ambulance that we finally located came to help but she had already died by then," he claimed. The family is now left devastated with two young children mourning the loss of their mother. Traffic authorities reported that the jam was caused by a collision between three vehicles on the bridge and intense pressure from vehicles in the opposite lane. "Cranes were later used to clear the wreckage," said DCP (traffic) Neeraj Pandey. He, however, claimed to be unaware of the pregnant woman's death at the time. Superintendent of CHC, Bani, Dr Manish Maurya said the woman was brought to the CHC but was not having proper labour pain and was therefore referred to government hospital in the city. However, the family wanted to take her to a private hospital and proceeded ahead in their own vehicle without an ambulance, he added....