Driver loses control of truck due to haze, 10 kids among 13 injured in Ludhiana

The thick smog that descended on Ludhiana on Sunday morning resulted in a pick-up truck overturning as its driver lost control of the vehicle due to poor visibility at the Jugiana crossing near Sahnewal on Sunday morning. As many as 13 people, including 10 children and truck driver, returning from a Chhath Puja event, were injured in the accident.

The thick smog that descended on Ludhiana on Sunday morning resulted in a pick-up truck overturning as its driver lost control of the vehicle due to poor visibility at the Jugiana crossing near Sahnewal on Sunday morning.

The injured under treatment at the civil hospital in Ludhiana on Sunday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

As many as 13 people, including 10 children and truck driver, returning from a Chhath Puja event, were injured in the accident.

Besides the driver, among the injured are two women and 10 children aged from one year to 17 years.

The two women were identified as Kanti Devi, 37, and Reena Devi, 28, while the injured children were identified as Krishna, 1, Phool, 5, Anjali, 7, Aarti, 9, Laxmi, 10, Piyush, 11, Ayush, 13, Happy, 13, Shubham, 15 and Sandeep, 17. They are all residents of Jugiana Colony and hail from Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Two of the injured children under treatment at the civil hospital in Ludhiana on Sunday.

The injured were admitted to the civil hospital here.

Naveen Kumar, husband of Kanti Devi, said, “There were around 15 people in the truck. My wife, along with others, was sitting in the backside. Suddenly, as the truck was moving through the haze, the driver lost its control, and overturned. The jerk caused my wife’s head to hit the vehicle’s body, leaving her injured,” he said, adding that neither any vehicle hit the truck nor was it speeding.

Thirteen-year-old Happy, a student of Class 8, suffered injuries on the face. He said, “There was zero visibility due to smog . The driver was not driving rashly, so we don’t know how the vehicle overturned.”

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Dharminder Singh, in-charge, Kanganwal police post, said, “The driver stated that he was not able to see properly due to smog. When he was taking a turn towards Jugiana, he felt something was in the way, prompting him to apply brakes. But this caused the vehicle to swerve and overturn.”

“We have not received any complaint against the driver from the victims or their family members,” he added.