Woman miscarries, 2 die as truck crushes auto in northeast Delhi's Sonia Vihar

The crash left five people injured, including Rakhi’s husband, Raja, and a six-month-old girl. The two men killed were the autorickshaw driver and a passenger.

When 25-year-old Rakhi, who was nine months pregnant, complained of labour pain on Thursday morning, her husband hailed the first autorickshaw he could find outside their home in northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar.

The auto-rickshaw that met with an accident in Sonia Vihar. (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photo)

Minutes later, a truck rammed into the three-wheeler, killing two men and injuring Rakhi and her husband Raja. It was only after she was taken to Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital that her family learnt that her unborn child had not survived. “Rakhi is in critical condition. Raja, too, is injured and under treatment. We have not been able to gather the courage to inform Rakhi that her baby is no more… We don’t even know if she will survive,” said Reena, 34, Raja’s sister. Rakhi is currently on life support in the hospital’s neurology department.

The crash also left five people injured, including Rakhi’s husband, Raja, and a six-month-old girl. The two men killed were the autorickshaw driver and a passenger.

Around 5am, the four-seater autorickshaw, which was carrying eight people, was hit head-on by a truck on Pushta Road. A police officer investigating the case suspects fog may have contributed to the collision.

“The autorickshaw was going towards Chauhan Patti from Sabhapur and the truck was coming from the other side. It was a head-on collision on Pushta Road. Because the Yamuna is on both sides of the road, there was fog around 5am when the incident took place,” the officer said, adding that the truck driver fled after the crash.

What happened?

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Rahool Alwal said police received a call about the accident at 5.09am. “Eight injured persons, including five men, two women and a six-month-old girl, were taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where two men were declared dead on arrival,” he said.

The deceased were identified as Satbir Singh, 32, a passenger, and autorickshaw driver Pramod Chaurasia, 40. The injured included Satbir’s wife, Moni Singh, 30; Rakhi and her husband, Raja; and Rameshwar Dayal, 45, and Akshay Sharma, 35. The six-month-old girl was also among those taken to hospital.

All the injured were subsequently admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital. While the others were out of danger, Rakhi and Sharma were critical, doctors at the hospital said.

Sharma’s brother, Deepu Sharma, 25, said Akshay and Chaurasia were friends and drove the autorickshaw together, sitting next to each other. “Akshay left home around 7.30pm. He and Chaurasia would often get drunk and fight. I don’t know if they were drunk at the time of the incident or who was driving,” he said, adding that his brother had remained unconscious since the crash.

Deepu alleged that the police did not inform the family about the accident. He said locals told him around noon that an accident had taken place on Pushta Road, following which he went to the police station to check.

Limited medical facilities at hospital

Rakhi’s sister-in-law Reena said the couple married in July 2024 and have a one-year-old son. “We truly hope she survives because her son is very small. He will not be able to live without his mother,” she said.

The family also raised concerns about the medical facilities available at the hospital. “I have to pump for oxygen support manually because they don’t have the required equipment. They said that she needs to be put on ventilator support, but they are waiting for it,” Reena said.

Officials at Rajiv Gandhi Hospital did not respond to HT’s request for comment.

Satbir’s wife, Moni, suffered injuries to her lips that required stitches and fractures in both legs. By Thursday afternoon, she had not been informed about her husband’s death.

The couple lived with their infant daughter in Chauhan Patti. Satbir worked at a polythene manufacturing factory in Tronica City.

The family had gone to their village in Kasganj and were returning home when the accident occurred. Their six-month-old daughter suffered head compression. “They are now left to fend for themselves. We will take them back to the village,” said Satbir’s brother-in-law, Dharambir Singh, 41.

Police said they had registered a case on charges of causing death by negligence and were searching for the truck driver.