Burst tyre shrapnel kills 17-year-old, injures three in Nuh

The victim was a garage worker, while three bystanders suffered critical injuries from flying rim shards after the truck exited a repair shop.

A 17-year-old boy was killed, and at least three bystanders were critically injured after a moving container truck’s tyre allegedly burst and shrapnel from the rim hit the victims at Badkali Chowk on the Nuh–Alwar road, police said on Tuesday.

Police say the container’s wheel hit a rock before rupturing; the driver fled but was later arrested and booked for negligence. (HT)

The deceased was identified as Mohammad Vakil, a resident of Kherla village who worked at a garage on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway in Nagina, police said. The injured were identified as Mohammad Munfed, 33, of Nagina; Mujahid, 20, of Karheri; and Mohammad Shahbaz, 16, of Dhana, all from different parts of Nuh, they added.

Police said the incident took place between 11.30 am and 11.45 am on Sunday when the container truck came out of a garage at Badkali Chowk and was moving on the road. A senior police official said locals informed investigators that the truck’s left front wheel climbed onto a rock lying on the road, after which the tyre suddenly burst. “The metal pieces of the ruptured rim flew several feet and pierced the chest of Vakil. Its pieces also hit Munfed, Mujahid and Shahbaz, who were bystanders at the chowk,” the official said, quoting the locals.

Investigators said locals alerted the police control room, following which ambulances and emergency response vehicles reached the spot and rushed all the injured to Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College at Nalhar in Nuh. Doctors declared Vakil dead on arrival.

After initial treatment, the three injured were referred to a higher centre due to their critical condition and were shifted to private hospitals in Nuh and Alwar, Rajasthan.

Krishan Kumar, public relations officer of Nuh police, said the container driver, Mohammad Azharuddin, 35, a resident of Kishangarhi in Rajasthan, was arrested on Tuesday. “He had fled from the spot after the incident by abandoning the truck,” he said.

“Vakil’s family had submitted a complaint on the basis of which an FIR for rash driving and causing death by negligence was registered against the truck driver at Nagina police station on Monday,” Kumar said.

He added that the truck’s tyre was probably damaged, leading to it bursting. “It was a freak accident. Further investigation in the case is going on to ascertain what the actual cause of the accident was,” he said.