Three persons, including two members of a family, were killed when their car rammed into a truck coming from the opposite direction on NH 44 near Uchani village of Karnal district on Tuesday morning.
Police suspect the car driver probably fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle which then crossed the divider and hit the truck on the other side. The impact of the accident was so severe that the engine of the car fell outside.
Of the deceased, Manjeet Singh, 35, of Attari in Amritsar district, his brother-in-law Baldev Singh, 38, hailed from Ludhiana, while the car driver Harjot Singh, 35, lived in Jalandhar. Police say they were returning from Delhi after dropping their nephew at the airport.
Eye witnesses told police the accident took place around 6am on Tuesday, when the Tata Bolt car suddenly crossed the divider and rammed into a truck coming from opposite side. Locals took the injured out of the car.
“One of them died on the spot, another died on the way to hospital, while the third sustained serious injuries and died during treatment at the Kalpana Chawla Hospital in Karnal,” the police said.
{{/usCountry}}“One of them died on the spot, another died on the way to hospital, while the third sustained serious injuries and died during treatment at the Kalpana Chawla Hospital in Karnal,” the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Investigation officer Vijay Kumar said that prima facie, it was fault of the driver of the car who most likely fell asleep at the wheel and lost control. “It is not clear why the car jumped the divider. We are investigating whether the vehicle’s tyre burst or whether the driver fell asleep,” he said.
Family members of the deceased have been informed and bodies have sent for postmortem. He said investigation is underway and an FIR will be registered after the truck driver’s statement.