Holi revelry claims 7 lives on city roads

As many as people lost their lives in six hours on Holi on Sunday, police officials said. HT reports.

As many as people lost their lives in six hours on Holi on Sunday, police officials said.

HT Image

The number of fatalities, however, was down drastically - it was the lowest in the last 10 years. Last year, 15 persons were killed on Holi in road accidents across the city.

On Sunday, the first fatal accident took place at 1pm in Mangolpuri, where a person on a motorcycle hit a divider and died on spot.

The next accident took place at 2.18 pm in which a 45-year-old woman died after being hit by a car.

At 4.20pm, a husband-wife duo, who was on a motorcycle, collided with a three-wheeler at Jahangirpuri.

The woman died on the spot and husband succumbed to injuries later.

At 5pm, a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a motorcycle at Punjabi Bagh.

The last fatal accident was reported from Vijay Enclave at 6.25pm, where a motorcycle with two persons hit a road divider. Both died on the spot.

"Most of these accidents took place as the drivers were driving under the influence of liquor," said a traffic police officer, who didn't wish to be named.

According to Delhi traffic police, most of the road deaths occur on two days in a year -New Year's Day and Holi.

However, this year, no deaths were registered on January 1, and only seven deaths on Holi.

"This is unprecedented and is obviously the result of continuous prosecutions for drunk driving, which is one of the major contributors to road accidents," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).