The Hindu : Four crushed to death

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 27, 2003

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Four crushed to death

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI FEB. 26. Four pedestrians were killed and two, including a Delhi police constable, were injured when a rashly driven truck rammed into another, subsequently hitting several other vehicles at Kashmiri Gate in North Delhi late last night.

The incident took place near Hanuman Setu around 12-30 a.m. when in a bid to overtake another truck the driver of the first one lost control over his vehicle, hit the central verge and then rammed into four other vehicles parked there.

It being Tuesday, the police said several people had come to Hanuman Mandir to offer prayers. Four of them, who were standing near a bus shelter, were fatally injured in the accident, while two others, including constable Jaswant Singh, escaped with injuries.

Those killed were identified as Rakesh Vahru Singh, residents of Yamuna Bazar; Ravinder, a resident of Panipat in Haryana; and Varun from Kashmere Gate. The police said constable Jaswant Singh was admitted to Sushrut Trauma Centre with a fractured backbone and was out of danger.

A case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving has been registered at the Kashmere Gate police station and the driver of the first truck, Neeraj, has been arrested. The driver of the other truck is absconding.

According to a senior police officer, the toll could have been higher had there been people in vehicles parked near the temple, which were damaged in the accident. He said the gory incident had once again highlighted the over-speeding problems on Delhi roads at night.

However, despite their claims to have launched drives against over-speeding vehicles, it is alleged that the traffic police have failed to check the rash driving of trucks, mostly from nearby States. In fact, a truck involved in the accident killing four people was registered in Haryana.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, the traffic police claimed to have prosecuted around 400 buses for violating directives pertaining to speeding, overtaking and other offences, issued by the Supreme Court. But, there was no mention of trucks or other vehicles in the data shared.

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