Four killed, 20 injured in two accidents on nearby highways

Police said that four persons were returning from Mathura to Delhi in a Honda City car when one of the front tyres got punctured near Salarpur underpass in Dankaur around 12:30pm.

Four persons died and 20 others, including a 55-year-old woman sub-inspector of the Delhi Police, were injured in two separate accidents -- one took place on the Yamuna Expressway and the other on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway -- on Sunday.

In one of the accidents, a bus hit a stationary truck on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, killing one and injuring 19. (Sourced)

Police said that four persons were returning from Mathura to Delhi in a Honda City car when one of the front tyres got punctured near Salarpur underpass in Dankaur around 12:30pm. “The four occupants deboarded the car and one of them started replacing the tyre when a speeding vehicle coming in the same direction ran over them,” said Arvind Pathak, station house officer, Dankaur police station.

According to police, all the four persons -- Bhaskar Sharma, 25, his mother Kanchan Sharma, 62, Kanchan’s younger sister Poonam Sharma, 55, and Poonam’s daughter Bhavya Sharma, 19 -- were critically wounded in the incident while the driver of the unidentified vehicle managed to escape. Some passersby informed police and a team from Dankaur police station reached the spot, Pathak said, adding that the four victims were admitted to a private hospital in Greater Noida where Bhaskar, Kanchan and Bhavya succumbed to injuries.

The condition of Poonam Sharma, a sub-inspector of the Delhi Police, is critical, a senior police official said.

Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida, said the Delhi-based family was returning after visiting temples in Mathura. “The four victims were rushed to a private hospital where three of them died. Poonam Sharma is undergoing treatment in the hospital’s intensive care unit,” he said.

While Bhaskar and Kanchan were residents of Delhi’s Vikaspuri, Poonam is a resident of BSES Colony in New Delhi, police said.

Police said that the three bodies have been sent for a post-mortem. “We have registered a case against unknown person under Section 304-A (death due to negligence) and Section 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code. We are scanning the footage from the CCTV camera to identify the suspect and his vehicle,” Pathak said.

In the second accident, a 35-year-old woman died while 19 others were injured after a bus carrying over 60 passengers hit a stationary truck on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Dadri around 8am. The bus going from Punjab to Bihar was badly damaged and the passengers were trapped, officials said, adding that a police team reached the spot and rescued them.

Pradeep Tripathi, SHO of Dadri police station, said the bus bearing Punjab registration number was going to Muzaffarpur. “A truck loaded with iron bars was parked on the expressway. It seems that the bus driver could not spot the truck and hit the vehicle from behind,” he said.

Police said all the victims were rushed to the Noida district hospital where a woman succumbed to injuries. The woman was travelling alone and her identity has not been ascertained yet, police said.

The injured were identified as Mani Lal Mathur, Bablu, Zubair Ansari, Shyam Pandit, Naresh Kumar, Milan, Sonu Kumar, Manilal, Vinod, Jitendra, Vijay, Mausam Kumar, Sunil Das, Rasool, Raj Kumar, Mehruddin, Anirudh and Vasu.

Most of the injured persons are residents of Supaul, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, and Sitamarhi of Bihar and they worked in various factories in Punjab, police said, adding that they have not received any complaint in the case.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday offered condolences to the families of the victims who died in the accidents in Greater Noida. “CM Yogi Adityanath instructed the administration to provide proper treatment to those injured in the accidents and to provide all possible help and relief to the affected people,” the CM’s office said in a statement.