2 Dead, 6 Injured In Delhi After Speeding SUV Hits Cars, Vending Carts

Two people, including a teenager, were killed and six sustained injuries after a speeding SUV allegedly rammed into two cars and three vending carts in southwest Delhi's Vasant Vihar area, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday, they said, adding that two persons have been apprehended in connection with the incident.

Vasant Vihar police station received a call at 7.30 pm. After reaching the spot, a Mahindra Thar SUV, two other vehicles and three vending carts were found damaged, a senior police officer said.

During inquiry, it was found that the accident was caused by the driver of the Thar. Eight people, including children, got injured and were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Manoj C said.

The injured are residents of Shiva Camp, Vasant Vihar, Ekta Vihar, and R K Puram. Two of the injured -- Munna and Sameer -- succumbed to injuries during treatment in the hospital, the DCP said.

Following the incident, the driver of the Thar fled from the spot, police said.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused was an employee of the owner of the car. He had access to the vehicle as the owner was not in Delhi, police said.

Munna Kumar (28), a resident of RK Puram, and Sameer (15), a resident of Munirka Jhuggi, have died in the incident. The injured have been identified as Bhura Khan (47) and five other minors, police said.

Two accused persons have been identified as Ajay Kumar Yadav (39), a resident of Madhubani district in Bihar, and Chij Bahadur (40), a native of Nepal.

Yadav was the driver and Bahadur works as a cook at the house of the owner of the car, police said.

According to police, the driver of the Thar along with a cook did not have any specific destination to go. Since it was Holi and their employer was out of town, they went out for a drive and were basically wandering around the city when the accident took place.

The owner of the Thar is currently in Udaipur, Rajasthan, and will be questioned once he is back in Delhi, they said.

Arif Khan, the cousin of Sameer, said he also sells fruits at the spot and was present there when the incident happened.

"Sameer was my maternal cousin and he generally came to the cart to help his father. We have three carts -- two of fruits and one of vegetable -- there. The SUV car came at a very high speed from the Malai Mandir direction.

"It first hit a red Xcent car which rammed into an electric pole in the middle of the road. Later, the offending vehicle hit another car and our three carts.

"When the accident took place, a dust engulfed the small section and several people gathered there. We did not see when the driver of offending vehicle escaped from the spot. Sameer came under the Thar and probably died at the spot," Arif said.

The siblings of Sameer were going to the market to buy vegetables when their father asked them to wait as he will go with them to the market. When they were sitting there and Bhura was doing his work, the incident took place, Arif said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)