Two including Delhi police constable dies as bus rams truck on Delhi-Mumbai eway

According to police, poor visibility due to dense fog was the main cause of the accident as the bus driver could not see the truck which suddenly took a sharp right turn to change lanes.

Two passengers including a Delhi police constable died and at least five others were injured after the bus in which they were travelling in rammed a truck on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway at Firozpur Jhirka in Nuh on Thursday, said police.

The mangled bus. (HT)

According to police, poor visibility due to dense fog was the main cause of the accident as the bus driver could not see the truck which suddenly took a sharp right turn to change lanes. Officials said that the trucker had fled from the spot immediately after the accident with the vehicle.

Police identified the deceased as Mohar Singh Meena, 33, a resident of Dausa and Bhawani Singh, 29, from Kheda Mangal Singh in Alwar, both in Rajasthan. Meena was a constable in Delhi police and was travelling to join his duty while Singh was the co-driver of the bus.

Investigators said that out of the five injured persons, bus driver Mausam Khan, 28, from Chandaudi in Alwar and Bijender Singh, 40, another passenger from Dausa, were critically injured and were undergoing treatment at separate private hospitals in Firozpur Jhirka.

Inspector Subhash Chand, station house officer (SHO) of Sadar Firozpur Jhirka police station, said that the accident took place between 7.25am and 7.35am near Gujar Nangla village along the expressway when the bus carrying at least 50 passengers was travelling to Delhi from Balaji in Rajasthan.

“The villagers who spotted the accident, helped the injured passengers and alerted the police control room, following which ambulances and emergency response vehicles reached the spot for help,” Chand said.

He said that the injured passengers were rushed to government hospital in Mandi Khera from where the two critically injured were shifted to the two private hospitals while majority of the other passengers were discharged after first-aid.

Chand said that the left side of the bus front to the mid of the chassis was ripped open from the collision causing the fatalities and the injuries to the passengers.

“Reckless driving by the truck driver clubbed with poor visibility due to dense fog was the root cause of the incident. We are checking CCTV camera footage too but nothing is visible due to the dense fog,” he said.

Police said that the bodies were handed over to the concerned family members after carrying out autopsies. They said process was on to register an FIR under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the unidentified truck driver at Sadar Firozpur Jhirka police station on complaint of kin of the deceased persons.