The interior of the airplane used for the ambulance service introduced on Friday is in reality as different as night and day from photos shared on social media by government officials and People’s National Congress (PNC) supporters.
Photos circulated on social media by some government officials and supporters as the interior of the air ambulance after the first test flight on Friday evening came from a site called Global Jet Market.
The photo was misleading. Some people believed it showed the interior of the air ambulance introduced on Friday.
When many people pointed out that the photo was fake, government officials started saying that it was a sample photo. However, no government official has shared a photo of the air ambulance’s interior. None of the photos posted by Maldivian shows the inside of the aircraft either.
Then on Saturday, a photo emerged on social media purporting to show the interior of the air ambulance. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the authenticity of the photo to Adhadhu on the condition of anonymity.
The Transport Ministry could not be reached for comment as its media team did not respond to repeated phone calls.
President’s Office Communications Minister Ibrahim Khaleel told Adhadhu that the photos had been taken during the development of the air ambulance. The appearance of the aircraft would have been different when flights started, he said.
Photo shared on social media and real photo of the air ambulance.
“That’s not a photo from when it was complete. That’s a photo that someone took when the work was being done,” Khaleel said.
However, there were no “photos or videos of the inside” taken after the work was finished, he said.
“The air ambulance was launched after completing everything needed for transporting a patient from one place to another. Isn’t that what’s needed,” Khaleel said.
However, the source who spoke to Adhadhu from among the people involved in developing the air ambulance disputed Khaleel’s claim. The photo had been taken shortly before the test flight on Friday evening, the source said.
According to the source, the air ambulance was not too different from flights previously chartered by Maldivian for airlifting patients with stretchers installed after closing seats.
Despite the similar installation of stretchers with seats closed when patients are carried on commercial flights, the primary system needed for the aircraft had been donated by Ooredoo. Maldivian confirmed the donation but did not disclose the cost of the equipment.
A government official said the cost of the full paramedic system donated by Ooredoo would amount to nearly MVR 16 million. Adhadhu understands that some of the equipment has now arrived. But the government has not made any mention of it so far.
Introducing an air ambulance service in the Maldives was a campaign pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The launch of the air ambulance service on March 1 was announced during a press conference at the President’s Office on December 25 by Principal Secretary to the President on Public Policy Abdulla Nazim.
Speaking to reporters on January 13 after concluding his state visit to China, President Muizzu gave further assurances and claimed that the air ambulance could transport patients to Thailand if necessary.
But the air ambulance service was launched with direct flights only to Sri Lanka and India.
