For the past 7 months since the pandemic went on the rampage in the country, he was there carrying dead bodies of COVID-19 patients in Delhi. He made sure that everyone gets a farewell with dignity.
However, the virus he was helping people to fight with also infected him recently. On Saturday morning, the 48-year-old ambulance driver Aarif Khan succumbed to the COVID-19 in Delhi.
Aarif was working as an ambulance driver and ferried more than 200 bodies of COVID-19 patients since March.
As per the report by the Indian Express, on October 3, Khan fell sick and got a Covid-19 test done, which came positive. Aarif died within a day of getting admitted to hospital. Khan took his last breath in the Hindu Rao Hospital.
During the pandemic, Aarif would visit his family for a brief time to pick up something he needed, like clothes. That was the time when his family members could meet him. He earned Rs 16,000 a month and was the sole earning member of the family.
Aarif was working with the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, that provides free emergency services in NCR region.
Jyot Jeet of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal posted a video on the Facebook page of the organisation and narrated how Aarif served people with dedication for the last 6-7 months.
After the death of Aarif, even the vice president of India Venkaiah Naidu condoled his death on Twitter. "My condolences to the bereaved family members of ambulance driver, Aarif Khan of Delhi. He rendered selfless service by ferrying close to 200 bodies of COVID-19 patients for their last rites. It is saddening to learn that he succumbed to the Coronavirus (sic)," he tweeted
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally of cases raced past 70 lakh, 13 days after it had crossed the 60-lakh mark, while the national recovery rate stood at 86.17 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The COVID-19 caseload mounted to 70,53,806 with 74,383 infections being reported in a day. The death toll climbed to 1,08,334 with 918 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Meanwhile, Delhi has 21,955 active cases, while 2,76,046 patients have been cured and discharged in the union territory. 5,692 deaths have been reported in the national capital due to the disease so far.
(With inputs from IANS)
