Girl killed as van falls off Delhi Meerut Expressway after being hit by speeding car

The incident happened near the Hawa Hawai restaurant in Masuri and the van fell about 15-20 feet into the nearby fields

A 12-year-old girl was killed and eight others injured after their Maruti Eeco van was hit by a speeding Verna car and it fell off the Delhi-Meerut Expressway stretch near Masuri in Ghaziabad on Thursday evening. Police said nine of a family in the van were returning to Gujarat from Haridwar from the accident happened.

Police said they have formed teams to trace the driver of the erring Verna car and an FIR will be registered once they receive a complaint from the victim family. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The police said the incident happened near the Hawa Hawai restaurant in Masuri and the van fell about 15-20 feet into the nearby fields.

“The police reached the spot soon and rescued the injured persons. They were rushed to a nearby community health centre in Dasna, where the 12-year-old girl was declared dead on arrival. The Verna car driver left the car behind and fled the spot. Our teams are trying to trace him,” said Naresh Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, Masuri/Muradnagar circle.

“The passengers were from Gujarat and were visiting Haridwar. Their van was on Meerut-Ghaziabad carriageway when the speeding Verma, which has a Haryana registration number, hit the van from behind. The front portion of the Verna suffered damage while the rear portion of the van was completely mangled in the crash and the subsequent fall from the expressway,” the ACP said.

Rahul Dev Shiv, 45-year-old resident of Morbi and one of those injured, said, “Our van got hit by the speeding Verna from behind and in the process its engine was badly damaged... We were nine people in the van. These include my wife and my three children, besides my brother-in-law, my sister and their children. One of my nieces died.”

He added that the family had gone to Haridwar for vacations. “The accident happened while we were returning to Gujarat. We were all inside the van when it overturned and fell off the expressway. It suffered major damage. We were shouting for help and local villagers helped bring us out,” he said.

The doctors at CHC Dasna said three children were discharged after treatment.

“A total nine passengers were brought to the CHC and the girl was declared dead on arrival. Three children were discharged after treatment while the rest were referred to a higher facility for treatment. They suffered injuries along with fractures. All were family members and relatives from Morbi and Rajkot in Gujarat,” said Dr Harsh Kumar, attending doctor, CHC, Dasna.

According to records of the CHC, Dasna, there were four adults, including two women, in the Eeco van apart from the children.

The police said they have formed teams to trace the driver of the erring Verna car and an FIR will be registered once they receive a complaint from the victim family.