Peter Ekeng

The Romanian public prosecutor on Thursday charged emergency doctor, Elena Duta with the manslaughter of former Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the 26-year-old Ekeng collapsed during a league match for Dinamo Bucharest in May and died of heart failure.

The prosecutor said Duta, the emergency medical specialist in the ambulance which took Ekeng to hospital, made no attempt to resuscitate the player.

Hospital staff were unable to resuscitate him on his arrival.

An autopsy showed the player was suffering from multiple serious heart problems.

However, the Bucharest prosecutor said: “Even if among Patrick Ekeng’s causes of death were the cardiac problems he suffered from, by her unjustified inaction Elena Duta removed any chance of survival.

“She did not evaluate the footballer’s state of health and made no attempt at resuscitation.’’

The prosecutor’s office quoted forensic scientists as saying 95 per cent of people with similar heart problems survive cardiac arrest if defibrillation is administered within 60 seconds.

“The chances of survival drop by 5.5 per cent with every minute,” prosecutors said.

NAN recalls further that Ekeng fell to the floor in the 70th minute of a televised Romanian league match between Dinamo and Viitorul.

He was pronounced dead in hospital two hours later.(NAN)