Four killed as oil tanker hits car, pick-up van in Gurugram

Three men were burnt alive and a pick-up van driver was crushed to death after an oil tanker hit both vehicles near Sidhrawali village in Gurugram. The driver of the oil tanker fled the scene.

Three men were burnt alive in their car and a pick-up van driver was crushed to death after an oil tanker hit both the vehicles near Sidhrawali village in Gurugram on the Delhi-Jaipur highway on Friday night. The driver of the oil tanker fled the spot, leaving the vehicle behind, police officers aware of the matter said on Saturday.

The mangled remains of the pick-up van on Delhi-Jaipur highway on Friday night. (HT Photo)

Police said the incident took place near Triveni hotel at Sidhrawali around 11.30pm when a speeding oil tanker, coming from Jaipur, crashed into the divider, skidded to the other side of the highway, collided with the car and then the pick-up van. The CNG cylinders in the car caught fire and the vehicle was engulfed in flames, following which the occupants were charred to death. The tanker then hit the pick-up van, thereby severely damaging it and crushing its driver.

The incident came close on the heels of a bus catching fire on Delhi-Jaipur Expressway flyover near Jharsa on Wednesday night, following which four people were killed. Both the accidents took place on National Highway 8 ahead of Diwali. Most of the bus passengers were labourers based in Gurugram and were returning to their native villages to celebrate the “festival of lights”, while the three inmates of the car were also travelling to Bhiwadi in Rajasthan for Diwali.

After receiving information of the accident, a team from Bilaspur police station, deputy commissioner of police Manesar, assistant commissioner of police Pataudi and a forensic team reached the spot. The blaze was doused with the help of the fire brigade personnel.

According to the police, the occupants of the car were identified as Jitender, a resident of Samalkha in Panipat, Lokesh Saini, a native of Anaj Mandi in Jind and Pawan Dubey from Bihar. The pick-up van driver was identified as Trilok Sharma, a resident of Chilhar village near Pataudi in Gurugram.

The investigating assistant sub-inspector Vinod Kumar said that the three men, who were travelling in the car, used to work in a private company in Manesar. “When we reached the spot, the car was gutted, and three passengers were burnt alive. The driver of the pick-up van also died on the spot. Following the accident, there was a major traffic congestion around the spot, and was cleared after all the vehicles were manually towed away,” said Kumar, the investigating officer.

Following the complaint of a friend of one of the deceased men, a first information report (FIR) has been registered against the tanker driver under sections 279 (rash driving), 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at Bilaspur police station.