JAPAN: Traffic accident victim, 79, refused by six hospitals dies

. FUKUSHIMA, Japan / The Japan Times / Kyodo / December 19, 2008 A 79-year-old woman seriously injured in a traffic accident in Fukushima Prefecture was refused admission by six hospitals before dying, firefighters said Thursday. An ambulance arrived at the accident scene five minutes after a minivehicle struck the woman on a road in Yamatsuri at around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters determined the woman's heart and lungs had ceased to function and asked six hospitals in Fukushima and neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture a total of seven times to accept the woman. All declined, saying their doctors were too busy, no surgeon was ready or that some medical equipment was not currently available because it was being inspected, the firefighters said. She was finally taken to a hospital in Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture, at around 7:40 p.m., where she died about 90 minutes later. (C) The Japan Times