A six-year-old girl died in a public hospital’s waiting room while her desperate mother begged for her to be seen, it has emerged.

Briana Torres – says local media in the city of Embarcacion, in Salta Province, in north-western Argentina, was declared dead at the San Roque Hospital on Thursday, 9th March, as she waited to be seen.

Shockingly, her family has since reportedly claimed that appointments at the publically funded hospital are sold to patients who can afford to pay.

Briana had been seen at the hospital four days earlier, with her mum being told to make an appointment with a paediatrician. She was returning for the appointment on 9th March when she fell into a coma.

But by the time finally medics got to her she was reportedly desperately ill and died soon after.

Eugenia Torres, Briana’s mother, has reportedly told local media that appointments are sold at the hospital, meaning that only people who can afford to pay are guaranteed to be seen.

Patients reportedly have to hand over ARS 1,500 (GBP 5.70) at the hospital door to get an appointment and jump the queue.

Each night, touts are said to sign up all the appointments for the following day.

Then they sell them to patients who want an appointment and can afford the fee, according to local media.

But by the morning, the touts have sold more spaces than the hospital has, causing chaos for patients who cannot afford to pay.

Mirco Neuenschwander, Briana’s uncle, said: “Her death certificate says that she passed away from possible meningitis.

“Although at first, they said that she had received a postmortem puncture, it is not clear that they did it.

“For this reason, and because of our questioning, after a few days, they began to say that she had died of pneumonia.”

Cruelly, local health officials reportedly tried to warn off Briana’s mother, saying that if there was an inquiry they would have to dig up her body.

Her uncle said: “As we spread the word that we are evaluating a criminal complaint, they came to see the girl’s mother to instil fear in her and tell her not to do anything because, if they did, they would have to dig up the body of her daughter. And we are very respectful of those rites.”

Eugenia, who is reportedly from the indigenous Wichi people, has said that she wants justice, saying: “We want to denounce what happened so that there are no more cases like Briana’s. They also hope they will clarify the cause of her death.”

The provincial Ministry of Health has however reportedly recognised that there are irregularities at the hospital, with local media reporting that the hospital knew about the scheme to sell appointments since at least mid-February.

And Facundo Orosco, the manager of the health centre, reportedly admitted that appointments were being bought and sold at the hospital.

It is currently unclear if the family, who hope to meet with the Minister of Health in the coming days, will go ahead and file a complaint.