Three labourers died on spot and 12 have been hospitalised
Three migrant labourers sleeping by the roadside were killed and 11 others were injured after a truck lost control and ran them over in Haryana's Jhajjar district today.
The incident took place in the early hours on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway, about 2 km from Aasodha toll plaza.
Horrifying visuals show the overturned truck and the bodies of the migrant labourers.
About 18 labourers, who had been working on a construction project nearby, were sleeping by the side of the expressway when the truck lost control and ran over them.
Senior police officer Amit Yashwardhan said three labourers died on the spot. "Twelve people have been hospitalised. Ten of them have been referred to PGIMS, Rohtak," he said.
Asked what the labourers had been working on, he said they were roped in for a bridge project.
"Their names have not been confirmed yet, but we know that they were from two districts of Uttar Pradesh," the police officer said.
The truck driver fled the spot after the accident. The police officer said they tracked down the owner using the registration number. "The owner has informed that there were two drivers and a helper. We now know their names and efforts are on to arrest them soon."
Asked what could have led to the accident, the officer said it is not clear how the accident took place. The labourers, he said, had put up barricades and installed reflectors to alert any passing vehicle. "it is possible that the driver was intoxicated or sleepy and lost control of the vehicle."