10 minute road rage scene that 'led to death' because ambulance could not reach ailing man

The absurd and shocking delay cost the life of the man, doctors believe, and it could lead to a two year jail sentence for the driver and her 'drunk' partner. Video footage shows how the ambulance was blocked from reaching a patient who urgently needed treatment in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Aggressive husband Roman is seen demanding the ambulance back up and let them pass. He swore and hit the hood of the paramedical vehicle in a road rage outburst at the entrance to the yard of the block of flats where the victim lived.

Traffic police eventually arrived and forced the couple to give way, as the law requires to an emergency vehicle with its light flashing. But when the ambulance doctor reached the flat, the man was dead.  

'His heart just stopped,' said a source. His brother Denis - who called the ambulance - said that the 21 year old was alive under moments before the doctor arrived.

The footage was recorded by the ambulance driver, and it has caused shock across Russia. We can now name the couple who caused the fatal delay, and the victim. 

The story sparked outrage among locals in the Kamchatka peninsula, in the extreme east of Russia. This led to the couple complaining they were being 'bullied' on social media. 

A criminal case was opened and the pair are being investigated for 'causing death by negligence'. State investigators will also examine whether the ambulance driver could have acted in a different way to reach the patient on time. 

The woman doctor in the ambulance said she was 'scared' to go on foot because she feared the 'drunk' man could attack her. There have been similar cases in the past. 

Galina Kulikova, spokeswoman of the city's main ambulance department, said: 'In the first six minutes the heart can respond to adrenaline and start beating again. That is why the doctor rushed to catch these first minutes. 

'No-one would say that we definitely could save him, but he had a chance. Unfortunately, someone decided for him, and took this chance away.' 

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned way the couple had failed to move aside and let the ambulance pass. 'We can only join those who condemn such actions, those who are outraged with the blocking of the ambulance. This is absolutely unacceptable,' he said.