Ghaziabad accident: Moments after crash, survivor dialled elder brother for help

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway has a speed limit of 100 kilometre per hour (kmph) and the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said both vehicles were going at a speed of around 90-100kmph when the collision happened

Two brothers, Narendra Yadav, 45, and Dharmendra Yadav, 40, set out to Khatu Shyam temple in Rajasthan with their families from their home in Dhanpur, Mawana in Meerut early Tuesday morning. Within a few hours, six of their eight family members were dead as their Mahindra TUV collided head-on with a bus, painted in schoolbus yellow, being driven on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway near Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad.

The police said the impact of the collision was such that the front of the TUV was completely crushed. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Narendra, having an electrical business, and Dharmendra, engaged in farming, started from their homes at 4am with their wives and children and were to stop at their sister’s house in Gurugram on the way.

“They were to have breakfast at their sister’s home. Their sister’s relative was also along with them. Around 6am, their eldest brother Jitendra received a call from a panicked Dharmendra and he could just utter one sentence, “Bhaiya, hame bacha lo (brother, please save us)”, and the call disconnected.

“Jitendra hurriedly dialled the number and some passerby picked up the phone and told him that an accident has happened. Thereafter, we rushed to Ghaziabad and by the time we got there, the police had already reached the spot,” said Sanjay Yadav, Narendra and Dharmendra’s cousin.

The Ghaziabad police said the dead included Narendra, his wife Anita, 40, their sons Himanshu, 12, Dipanshu, 15, Dharmendra’s wife Babita, 35, and their daughter Vanshika, 7. Dharmendra and his minor son Kartik escaped with injuries.

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway has a speed limit of 100 kilometre per hour (kmph) and the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said both vehicles were going at a speed of around 90-100kmph when the collision happened.

Sanjay said he and Jitendra had visited the temple in Rajasthan about a fortnight ago.

“So, Dharmendra and Narendra also planned to visit and finalised the plan two days ago as school was also closed on account of Kanwar diversions. So, the two families planned a visit to the temple. Narendra was driving while Dharmendra was in the front passenger seat. The bus hit the driver’s side of the vehicle. That is why Dharmendra and his minor son Kartik escaped with injuries.

The police said the impact of the collision was such that the front of the TUV was completely crushed.

“The bus was being driven on the wrong side at a high speed and it hit the TUV primarily on the driver’s side. Thereafter the two vehicles came to halt. The TUV was completely crushed and six persons died on the spot. We had to rope in cutter machines to pull out the injured from the car. The driver of the bus has been arrested. The two injured are under treatment at the hospital,” said Ravi Prakash Singh, assistant commissioner of police (Wave City).

The police said the bodies were sent for autopsy and an FIR has been registered against the bus driver, Prem Pal Singh, at Crossings Republik police station in Ghaziabad.