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Scooter rider, homeless man killed, two others injured as speeding mini truck runs onto pavement
A 35-year-old homeless man and a civil defence volunteer were killed and two other homeless men seriously injured after a mini truck, which was allegedly speeding, first hit a scooter and then ran onto a pavement where the homeless were sleeping in north Delhi’s Kashmere Gate on Wednesday morning, the police said
A 35-year-old homeless man and a civil defence volunteer were killed and two other homeless men seriously injured after a mini truck, which was allegedly speeding, first hit a scooter and then ran onto a pavement where the homeless were sleeping in north Delhi’s Kashmere Gate on Wednesday morning, the police said.
The deceased civil defence volunteer, who was on the scooter, was identified as 34-year-old Vehram Khan. Police said the identity of the dead homeless man could not be ascertained till late evening.
The errant mini truck driver, Atiq Ahmed, was caught by a police team on patrol duty. He was booked for rash and negligent driving causing death and injury, the police said.
Deputy commissioner of police (north) Anto Alphonse said around 6.15am, the patrolling staff of Kashmere Gate police station spotted an accident on a loop road towards Nigambodh Ghat from Yudhister Setu.
“A mini truck had ran onto the pavement and injured three homeless people sleeping there, after first hitting a man on a scooter. One of the homeless men died on the spot. The other three injured persons were rushed to Sushruta Trauma Centre, where the scooter rider was declared brought dead,” said Alphonse.
A police officer said the truck was carrying some plants and saplings to Sarai Kale Khan from north-east Delhi. The truck driver was alone in the vehicle and it was coming from the Shastri Park side. After crossing the Yamuna bridge (Yudhister Setu), the truck driver took a left turn on the loop towards Nigambodh Ghat.
“Prime facie, it appears that the truck driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel because of which he lost control of the vehicle. The truck first hit the scooter before climbing onto the footpath outside a night shelter run by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). It ran over three homeless men sleeping on the footpath before crashing through a concrete wall and into a drain alongside the road,” the officer said.
Of the two injured men, one was identified as Ramesh, 52, from Ludhiana, Punjab, while the other one was yet to be identified. At the time of the mishap, civil defence volunteer Vehram Khan was returning home on the scooter after dropping his mother at a bus stop in Jafarabad, his family members told the police.
“My brother’s duty was in a Covid-19 vaccination centre in GB Pant. I called him around 7am but his phone was not reachable, and he had not reached home. We panicked and went looking for him on the route he had taken to return home after dropping our mother. We found his badly damaged scooter at the accident spot. We identified him from the images of the injured persons that the policemen showed us,” said Khan’s brother Zaidan Khan.
A homeless men, Mahroof, who was sleeping on the pavement but escaped unhurt, said since it was windy over the past two days, people had started sleeping on the footpath to escape the heat and mosquitoes inside the night shelter.
“I was sleeping nearly 10 feet away from them (dead and injured men). I woke up because of a loud noise and saw a truck had fallen into the drain. Three of our men lay bleeding on the footpath while a scooter rider was also lying injured on the road. Had the truck come straight onto the footpath, it would have killed me and a few others as well,” said Mahroof.
DUSIB member Bipin Rai said there are 30 shelter homes in a 2km radius between Geeta Ghat and Gandhi Park for the homeless. “Despite the caretakers of these homes asking people to sleep inside, some sleep on the pavements to escape the heat. It was an unfortunate incident, and we will try to rope in more NGOs to ensure the homeless sleep inside the shelters only,” said Rai.
Sunil Kumar Aledia, member, Centre for Holistic Development, however, said there is a large number of homeless around Kashmere Gate and they sleep on footpaths because there is not enough space in shelter homes.
“Twenty temporary winter homes where nearly 600 homeless people slept were recently removed from the area. The existing homes are already overcrowded. So these people have no choice but to sleep on pavements. There have been similar deaths in the past, but the Delhi government still does not have a homeless policy to ensure their safety and security,” added Aledia.