36-year-old man killed, two injured as 22-wheeler truck topples on cab in Gurugram

A speeding 22-wheeler truck loaded with several tonnes of stone chips jumped a traffic light on Golf Course Extension Road on Thursday morning and toppled onto a cab, crushing it and its occupants, police said.

A private security guard was killed and two others, including a cab driver and an IT firm manager, were critically injured after a speeding 22-wheeler truck laden with stone chips jumped a traffic light on Golf Course Extension Road on Thursday morning and toppled onto their cab, police said.

The mangled car at the accident spot in Gurugram on Thursday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

A private security guard was killed, and a cab driver and a manager of a multinational firm critically injured, after a speeding 22-wheeler truck loaded with several tonnes of stone chips jumped a traffic light on Golf Course Extension Road on Thursday morning and toppled onto a cab, crushing it and its occupants, police said.

The deceased was identified as Nitish Kumar, 36, a native of Chhapra in Bihar’s Saran district, who lived with his two brothers at Nathupur in DLF Phase 3. He worked as a security guard at an IT firm housed in Building No. 10 at DLF CyberHub.

The injured were identified as Mehak Kaushik, 27, assistant manager at the same firm and a resident of Sector 67, and cab driver Hukum Singh, 39, a resident of Karoli, Rajasthan. Both are undergoing treatment at private hospitals in the city and were said to be stable.

The accident took place between 6.30am and 6.45am at Kushal Chowk, police said. Investigators added that the cab had just picked up Kaushik from her residence and was heading straight towards Sector 49 on Vikas Marg from Golf Estate Road after the signal turned green.

As it reached the middle of the intersection, a truck coming from Badshahpur and headed towards Ghata on Golf Course Extension Road allegedly jumped the red light.

Inspector Sukhbir Singh, station house officer of the Sector 50 police station, said the truck driver attempted a sharp left turn to avoid ramming into the cab. “However, due to the speed, weight of the stone chips and sudden application of the power brake, one of the tyres burst, and the several-feet-long carriage section of the truck toppled onto the cab beside it,” he said.

The cab was buried under a heap of stone chips, triggering panic among onlookers. The truck driver fled, abandoning his vehicle and cargo.

Traffic police constable Ramher Singh, who was on round-the-clock duty at the intersection, immediately began removing the stones by hand to rescue those trapped.

“At first, I didn’t realise a car was under the heap. Other commuters alerted me, and with the help of a Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam employee, Gopal Singh, we began removing the stones with our hands,” Constable Singh told HT at the spot.

He said more commuters and daily wage workers soon joined in. “We brought spades and other tools from nearby and managed to rescue the cab driver within minutes,” he said, adding that he had also called in three hydra and crane operators stationed nearby.

“The woman was brought out within 10 minutes after a hydra lifted the crushed car. But the guard was badly trapped inside and could only be pulled out after about 40 minutes when additional help arrived,” he said.

Officials said the guard was declared dead at a nearby hospital.

Based on a statement by the injured cab driver, an FIR was registered against the unidentified truck driver under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence), 281 (rash driving), 125(a) (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 324(4) (mischief causing damage) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Sector 50 police station.