Child among 4 crushed to death by truck, driver held

According to the police, the truck belonged to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The civic body, however, said it was operated by a private concessionaire

Four people, including a four-year-old boy, were crushed to death allegedly after a speeding truck that overturned on Main Rohtak Road in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat early on Saturday, police said. The driver of the truck was arrested hours later, officials said.

The damaged truck which allegedly killed three labourers and a child at Anand Parbat in New Delhi on Saturday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

According to the police, the truck belonged to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The civic body, however, said it was operated by a private concessionaire.

At least three people, including the driver of the truck, were also injured in the accident, officials said. The condition of two of them was said to be stable.

The deceased also included a couple and the child’s father — all labourers, who were involved in road paving work at around 1.20am when the truck lost balance on a curve to the main road, police officers said. Deputy commissioner of police (central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said that four to five people were trapped under the truck after the accident. “With the help of a crane, the truck was lifted and the trapped labourers were pulled out. Unfortunately, two labourers and the child died on the spot. One of the injured labourers was rushed to nearby Jeewan Mala hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries,” said the DCP.

The dead were identified as Hari Om alias Killu, 29, his four-year-old son, Anuj, Ramesh Ahirwar, 30, and his wife Soman Airwar, 30. They were involved in paving the Main Rohtak Road with concrete blocks along with at least 11 other labourers.

Hours after the accident, residents from nearby shanties blocked the road, demanding strict action against the driver and compensation to the kin of the deceased. This led to traffic jam in the area. Police assured the protesters of action after which the blockade was lifted.

The paving work was being carried out by the Public Works Department. Since the Main Rohtak Road is one of the busiest roads in the city during the day, it was being paved during the night for the past three months, said the other labourers part of the work. The government did not comment on the issue of compensation.

According to passersby and preliminary investigation, the truck was descending Anand Parbat’s Lane No 10 towards the Main Rohtak Road intersection at a high speed. The driver lost control of the vehicle; it first rammed into two shops and the first floors of a commercial complex on the right corner of the land. Thereafter, the truck took a sharp turn towards the right on the Main Rohtak Road — where the 14 labourers were paving the road — and turned turtle on its right, said Lala Ram, brother of one of the deceased, Ramesh Ahirwar.

“My brother, his wife, Killu and his son were crushed beneath the heavy truck. All four died on the spot,” said Ram.

DCP Sain said the driver of the MCD truck, Suman Kumar, 45, was also believed to have been injured in the accident. He had fled the spot, leaving the vehicle behind. Police later arrested him. He added that the truck driver was booked for rash driving causing death.

MCD director (press and information) Amit Kumar said the vehicle does not belong to MCD. “It belongs to a private firm.”

Killu’s wife Rajkumari Ahirwar said their eight-year-old daughter was also playing with their deceased son when the accident took place.

“My husband had seen the speeding truck coming towards us. He rushed to save our son but the truck overturned on their side and crushed them under it. We had come to Delhi for a livelihood but this city snatched away my son and husband,” said Rajkumari, who had returned with her family only early this week from Jhansi after attending a wedding.

Moti Lal’s injured wife Rani said that labourers began screaming for help the moment her husband and four others were trapped under the truck and the garbage. There was commotion all around and labourers were rushing to the nearby lanes, looking for any crane or earthmover to remove the overturned truck and rescue the trapped people, she said.

“We also informed the police. A crane arrived nearly 45 minutes later. It was lifting the truck when something happened and the vehicle fell again on the trapped people crushing them further. By the time, the truck was removed, all four had died. My husband survived because he was rescued in time,” said Rani.

This is the second such fatal accident in less than 24 hours in the city. Two men were killed and two others injured after a car rammed into a divider and landed on the roof of another car coming from the opposite direction, on Ring Road near Indraprastha Metro station early on Friday. The drivers of both the vehicles were killed in the accident.