New Delhi:
Four persons were crushed to death and two critically injured after a speeding water tanker hit an auto rickshaw and then rammed into a bus stand at Satya Niketan near Dhaula Kuan on Sunday afternoon.
A senior police official said that the errant tanker driver was trying to overtake a DTC bus when the incident happened. "The driver tried to overtake a DTC bus but lost control and hit a TSR before crushing people. The victims were rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung hospital where four were declared brought dead," the official said.
The deceased were identified as Jaspreet Kaur, a final year student of Bhagat Singh College, a couple Ramcharan Pokriyal and Kamleshwari from Paschim Vihar and one Jasvinder.
"The two injured identified as Ravinder and Tarachand, the auto rickshaw driver, are undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital and their condition is stated to be critical. The driver of the tanker, Puran Singh, who tried to flee from the spot was caught by a traffic constable Pawan who was on the patrol duty in the area," said a senior police official.
The police said Ravinder is a resident of Delhi Cantonment area and he had been removed from his job on Saturday. At the time of accident, he was carrying a file containing his resume and other documents related to his job profile. The deceased couple was on its way to see their nephew who was admitted at a nearby hospital.
"The impact of the collision was so severe that the bus stand was half damaged while the railing on roadside was half broken. Luckily, it was Sunday and there was not much crowd at the bus stand," said Deepak, who was waiting for the bus at the stand and managed to move away from the path of the tanker just in nick of the time.