Five die as speeding truck rams car on Delhi-Meerut Expressway

Five persons, including two minors, died and two others were severely injured when the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a speeding mini truck coming from wrong side on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Monday night

Five persons, including two minors, died and two others were severely injured when the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a speeding mini truck coming from wrong side on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Monday night. The truck driver has been arrested, police said.

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The accident took place around 10.30pm in the Masuri area of Ghaziabad, police said, adding that the victims were returning from Haridwar in an Alto car.

Police identified the deceased as Ashish Sinha, 33, his wife Shilpi Sinha, 30, their one-year-old son, Dev, Ashish’s brother-in-law Sonu Kumar, 35, and Sonu’s daughter, Kavya, 11. Sonu’s wife Nidhi, 28, and their other daughter, Shivi, 4, suffered critical injuries in the incident and are undergoing treatment at Sarvodaya Hospital in Kavi Nagar, police said.

“The car collided head-on with a mini truck that was driven on the wrong side. We have arrested the truck driver. He is not able to say clearly how he ventured to the wrong side of the expressway,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic).

Ashish’s family is a native of Lucknow while Sonu’s family resides at Makanpur in Ghaziabad’s Indirpauram.

Sonu’s relatives said that the two families had gone to Haridwar to perform ‘mundan’ of Ashish’s son. They also alleged that the jewellery worn by the women were missing, while the men’s purses were empty.

“When we checked the bags and purses of the victims, they were empty. Even the jewellery of the women was missing. We told the local police about it, but they asked us to give a complaint. As we had to take bodies to our native places, we did not file a complaint,” said Pappu, Sonu’s brother.

“The family from Lucknow had come to Ghaziabad two days ago. The two families left for Haridwar in Sonu’s car around 4am on Monday. After the accident, some passersby helped the victims reach the hospital. Ashish and his one-year-old son died on the spot, and they were left behind in the car. Ashish’s wife and one of Sonu’s daughters succumbed in the hospital, while Sonu died at 4am on Tuesday,” he added.

Dr Manoj Jain, medical superintendent of Sarvodaya Hospital, said that the two victims succumbed during treatment. “Ashish’s wife Shilpi and Sonu’s daughter Kavya died due to critical injuries while we were treating them. Sonu was also critical, but he succumbed to multiple injuries on Tuesday morning. His wife is still critical and on ventilator support while his daughter is in ICU, but stable,” Dr Jain said.

The incident took place at an isolated spot on the expressway near the border area of Masuri and Bhojpur police stations in Ghaziabad, police said.

Police identified the truck driver as Bablu Singh, a native of Amroha, who was on way from Ghaziabad to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.

Pawan Kumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP), said that the issue of missing cash and jewellery will be investigated.

“Such things get reported during accidents and it is a cause of concern. There was no deployment of traffic police at the incident site. It could be due to lack of resources. We have booked the truck driver under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) instead of Section 304a (causing death due to rash or negligent acts) which is generally levied in cases of accidents,” the SSP said.