Capsicum-laden truck fell off Salimgarh bypass flyover, driver killed, two injured

Police said the truck bearing a Rajasthan registration number was travelling at high speed, trying to reach the Azadpur vegetables and fruit market by 2 am.

A speeding capsicum-laden truck fell off the Salmgarh bypass flyover near Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in central Delhi’s Indraprastha Estate, killing the driver and critically injuring two other occupants early on Sunday morning, said police.

A speeding capsicum-laden truck fell off the Salmgarh bypass flyover near Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in central Delhi’s Indraprastha Estate, killing the driver and critically injuring two other occupants (HT File (Representative Image))

Police said the truck bearing a Rajasthan registration number was travelling at high speed, trying to reach the Azadpur vegetables and fruit market by 2 am. The truck were allegedly already late by almost three hours, which was why they were rushing to their destination, they said.

Family members of the dead driver, 40-year-old Mohammad Jalaluddin alias Jallu, however, said he may have lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a sharp left turn on the curve to avoid hitting a rashly driven car.

“We spoke to the injured helper, Wajid,21, and the truck’s second driver, Shahrukh,22. They told us that the car had overtaken the truck from the wrong side and its driver applied sudden brakes. To avoid collision, Jalaluddin took a sharp left turn and lost control of the truck because of which it fell down from the flyover,” said Jalaluddin’s cousin, Amin.

The mishap took place around 5 am.

Police said eyewitnesses told them that the truck was taking a right turn on a curve at the flyover, and toppled after crashing into the concrete parapet, breaking its iron railing.

“The speed of the truck was such that it jumped over the parapet, which is around three feet high, and fell at least 25 feet down on the slip road. Prima facie, it appears that the driver dozed off and lost control of the speeding vehicle,” said a police officer associated with the accident case.

Since the truck fell on a slip road, which is not frequently used by motorists, the mishap did not affect traffic in the area.

According to the police officer, the truck fell over onto its right (driver’s side). The driver was stuck inside and gas cutters were used to cut the mangled vehicle and rescue him. He was dead by the time rescue teams of the fire department took him out.

Mandeep Singh Randhawa, deputy commissioner of police (central), said that the truck loaded with cartons of capsicum was coming from Kolhapur in Maharashtra and headed to Azadpur Mandi when the mishap took place.

Police said that police staff deployed in an emergency response vehicle (ERV) patrolling the streets near the flyover were the first to reach the accident spot. While they immediately rescued the two injured occupants and rushed them to Lok Nayak hospital, one of the policeman called the fire’s rescue teams with a request for gas cutters.

Jalaluddin was a resident of Mewat in Haryana. The injured were from Shikarpur in Nuh in Haryana near Mewat. Shahrukh was the spare driver of the truck, since the vehicle used to ply was on long routes.

“The truck belongs to a transporter in Azadpur Mandi. Jalaluddin was employed for the last one year. He used to transport apples to Bangalore from Delhi in the truck and brought capsicums from Kolhapur,” said Amin.

DCP Randhawa said that a case of rash driving and causing death and injuries by negligence has been registered at the IP Estate police station.