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Six killed, five injured as car falls into canal in Greater Noida
Six members of a family, including a minor, were killed and five others were injured when their car fell into a canal due to dense fog on the Sikandrabad-Bilaspur
Six members of a family, including a minor, were killed and five others were injured when their car fell into a canal due to dense fog on the Sikandrabad-Bilaspur road in Greater Noida on Sunday night.
Police said a Maruti Ertiga that can seat seven people, including the driver, hit the sidewall of a bridge and fell into the Kherli Canal around 11.30pm.
Police identified the dead by their single names — Mahesh (35), Kishanpal (50), Naresh (17), Ram Khiladi (75), Mallu (72) and Netrapal (40). All were residents of Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh, 190kms from Delhi.
According to police, the victims were bound for Delhi to attend Netrapal’s house-warming ceremony.
Akhilesh Pradhan, station house officer, Dankaur police station, said the victims were heading to west Delhi’s Nikhil Vihar. “A person named Vijendra was behind the wheel. At night, the driver found it difficult to navigate through the dense fog and hit the sidewall of a bridge and fell into the canal,” he said.
People in the area alerted the police. A team from the Dankaur police station took the victims to a private hospital where six people were declared brought dead. The injured were identified as Tikaram, 40, Maan Singh, 25, Jasveer, 26, Vijender, 35, and another person whose identity was not established till the time of filing this report.
Kumar Ranvijay Singh, superintendent of police (rural) Gautam Budh Nagar, said the driver failed to negotiate a slight left turn. “The vehicle fell into a six feet deep canal and the occupants were trapped,” he said.
Those who survived the accident informed the police that the car was travelling around 60 km per hour. Hetram, a relative, said he and some others were following the Maruti Ertiga in another car. “Naresh called me and told us they met with an accident. He said the vehicle was sinking in a canal. We rushed to the spot,” he said.
Hetram said they reached the spot in half an hour and found some people trying to rescue the trapped occupants. “They climbed on the vehicle’s roof and tried to pull the victims through the doors and windows,” he said.
Netrapal had bought a new house in Delhi, and the extended family members were going to attend the home-warming function planned for Monday.
Locals said the bridge over the Kherli Canal was poorly lit and lacked signage. “This is a dangerous stretch to navigate. There is no streetlight or signage. We urge officials to fix the problem and ensure the safety of commuters,” said Radhe Shyam, a resident in the area.
Dankaur SHO said police had not received a complaint from the victims’ family till the filing of this report. The bodies were sent for autopsy and the reports were awaited.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the incident. In a statement early Monday, a government spokesman said the chief minister directed all district magistrates and district police chiefs to put all necessary arrangements in place to make roads safer.
