35-vehicle pile-up on Delhi-Meerut Expressway, 10 hurt

One man was critically injured and was admitted to a private hospital while nine others received light injuries, said police officers

Thirty-five vehicles were involved in a pile-up on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad on Sunday morning after a car suddenly applied breaks due to poor visibility amid foggy weather, resulting in a pile-up of vehicles behind it.

According to officers of the Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate, the incident occurred at 8am near Nahal village. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

One man was critically injured and was admitted to a private hospital while nine others received light injuries, said police officers.

According to officers of the Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate, the incident occurred at 8am near Nahal village.

“The driver of a car which was going at over 100kmph suddenly applied the brakes due to poor visibility, after which a cantor truck behind it also applied brakes to save itself from colliding with the car in front. A trailer truck that was behind the cantor truck collided with it even though the driver tried to steer towards the left to save himself. After this, vehicles kept on piling up one after another and 35 vehicles were involved in the crash,” said RN Kushwaha, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

Kushwaha added that visibility was low on the expressway due to fog. After the incident, local police teams, fire tenders and ambulances reached the spot.

Nine people received minor injuries and were sent to nearby hospitals for medical aid. “The driver of the cantor truck, Harikesh Kumar (24), sustained serious injuries and has been admitted to a private hospital,” said Kushwaha.

“The accident resulted in a long traffic jam on the expressway, which was cleared by police using vehicle lifting cranes and some car mechanics were also called to repair some of the vehicles. Police teams took more than two hours to clear the traffic jam,” Kushwaha added.