Nuh crash: Footage shows couple’s car was hit twice

For nearly eight hours, the mangled car sat on the side of the carriageway, its doors jammed shut, its occupants bleeding inside, as hundreds of vehicles passed

Gurugram: Footage from the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway has revealed that the car in which a Delhi couple died on Tuesday night was struck not once but twice, with both errant vehicles speeding away without stopping to help – even as the victims lay trapped, likely still alive and bleeding, inside the mangled car for nearly eight hours near Nuh.

The first hit came from a multi-axle dumper truck that shoved their Wagon-R into the side lane. (HT photo)

The first hit came from a multi-axle dumper truck that shoved their Wagon-R into the side lane; the second, 22 minutes later, from a speeding Maruti Ertiga whose driver reversed and fled, said investigators who have reviewed the CCTV footage. Neither driver got out to check on the couple, who appeared to have survived the initial collision.

But for the family of 42-year-old Lachhi Ram and 38-year-old Kusum Lata, the real horror was what happened after. For nearly eight hours, the mangled car sat on the side of the carriageway, its doors jammed shut, its occupants bleeding inside, as hundreds of vehicles passed.

“How can a mangled car with two dying people lie on a major expressway all night and no one sees it?” the family asked, accusing highway agencies and local police of a complete breakdown in response.

In Rajasthan’s Karauli district, the family struggled to come to terms with the general apathy – both from officials and from common people – that the case has shown them.

“How could everyone miss an entire mangled car with two persons trapped and bleeding inside. It clearly means either they were negligent or all the patrols are only taking place on paper,” said Nahar Singh, 62, Ram’s maternal uncle. “We were told National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) patrol vehicles pass every hour. How did they not see the crushed car?”

Singh said the family was informed that the expressway stretch is monitored both by the NHAI and local police units. “Where were police patrol teams? They would have survived if timely help was extended.”

Ram’s father, Devi Singh, 64, broke down repeatedly as he spoke from the family’s village, Kot Purine Pura. “This is not how they should have died. Even if they were injured, even if they were disabled for life, we would have cared for them. But to die waiting for help that never came – how can the authorities be so irresponsible?”

He said he kept calling their phones through the night. “First the calls rang, then they went off. After 8am the phone started ringing again, and a policeman answered. That is how we learned they had died.”

CCTV footage accessed by investigators and viewed by the family shows Ram’s grey Wagon-R travelling in the third lane toward Delhi around midnight. At 11.52pm, a speeding vehicle cut across from the left, prompting Ram to dodge into the extreme-left lane – where he crashed into a multi-axle dumper loaded with stones. The impact deployed the airbags and appears to have jammed the doors, trapping the couple inside, officials said.

“They survived the crash but were injured. We think they couldn’t exit the vehicle because the door was crushed from the front,” said a senior Nuh police officer, who asked not to be identified.

Then, at 12.14am, a white Maruti Ertiga slammed into the wreck, pushing it violently forward. “The Ertiga driver did not stop to check on the victims, and instead reversed and fled,” the officer said. “The entire crash is recorded on NHAI cameras. We have details of both vehicles as they crossed Hilalpur toll plaza and will trace the drivers soon.”

It was not until 7.38am – nearly eight hours after the first crash – that the police received the first alert, when villagers walking along the road spotted the wreck and the couple’s bodies inside.

Ram’s cousin Deepak Singh said the Ertiga driver could have saved them. “My sister-in-law had no visible injuries. She might have survived with timely help. Ram had severe head injuries and broken legs, but even then, if someone had stopped…” His voice trailed off.

Nuh deputy commissioner Akhil Pilani said he was unaware of the accident. “It will not be appropriate if I comment on it without going through the details. However, I can assure that stern action will be taken if anyone’s negligence is found in the matter,” Pilani said.

P.K. Kaushik, NHAI project director (Sohna), under whose jurisdiction the stretch falls, said show-cause notices were served to the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and the NHAI-appointed authority engineer of an agency responsible for overall supervision, patrol, and assistance to commuters. “This is a severe lapse in monitoring and supervision. This should not have happened at all. We will take strict action against the erring persons,” Kaushik said.

The couple leave behind four children: Gauri, 17; Khusbu, 15; Vivek, 13; and Manish, 11. Ram and Lata had moved to Delhi’s Budh Vihar more than a decade ago. Ram, once a daily-wage labourer, had worked his way up to become a building contractor, determined to rewrite the future for his family. Gauri, the eldest, had cleared Class 12 and recently begun coaching for the UPSC exam. “He wanted her to become an IAS officer,” said Deepak. “He had broken the cycle of poverty. Now, in one night, everything has fallen apart.”