Driver charred to death after truck hits illegally parked vehicle on KMP E-way

The victim, a 22-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, was trapped inside the crushed cabin as flames engulfed both vehicles. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation.

A 22-year-old driver was charred to death on Saturday after he was trapped inside the container truck, which caught fire after hitting an illegally parked truck on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway in Gurugram’s Farrukhnagar, police said.

The collision took place near Patli Hajipur village in Farrukhnagar. The driver of the allegedly illegally parked truck fled the spot, according to police. (HT Photo)

Police identified the victim as Deepu Kumar, originally from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. Police said that the incident happened near Patli Hajipur village on the carriageway leading towards Kundli from Palwal.

According to police, the cabin of the container truck was crushed and caught fire due to the collision’s impact, preventing officials from carrying out rescue work.

A senior police officer said that the commuters had alerted the police at 1.20 am.

“However, by the time rescue teams reached the spot, both vehicles were completely engulfed in flames. Prima facie it seems that the truck bearing a Uttar Pradesh number was illegally parked on the expressway and the container truck ended up ramming it from behind in the dark,” he said, adding that the driver of the illegally parked truck had fled from the spot.

Fire department officials said they received an alert about the fire at 1.57 am, after which two fire tenders from the Manesar and Pataudi fire stations were dispatched.

“The firefighters doused the flames and then discovered the charred remains of a body from the driver’s seat,” said a fire department official. Investigators said Deepu was probably critically injured and was unable to escape, leading to his death.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said the investigation is ongoing to ascertain how the collision occurred.

“The victim’s family members submitted a written complaint, and an FIR was registered under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Farrukh Nagar police station,” he added. Police said the accident caused traffic congestion on the carriageway for at least two hours.