Family Outing Turns Into Tragedy, Father-Daughter Crushed By Speeding Truck Near India Gate

A family outing turned into a tragedy after a speeding truck crushed a man and his daughter near India Gate in early morning hours on Tuesday. The 42-year-old man was with his family when the speeding truck ploughed into the pedestrians on Man Singh Road near India Gate. Mangled remains of two autos were seen at the spot. Apart from the father and his young daughter, two others were also injured in the crash. The driver of the truck has been arrested.

The Delhi Police is investigating the sequence of the events and trying to ascertain whether the driver was under influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. Sahil, the brother-in-law of the deceased spoke to news Nation and narrated the ordeal of the family. He said that his ‘jija ji’ had a week off and the family decided to go out for a picnic. They were on the sidewalk when the truck rammed into them. He alleged that the police team didn’t do anything.

In yet another tragic incident, two brothers, aged 14 and 16, were crushed to death near Golf Course Extension road in Haryana's Gurugram late Sunday night. The two minors, vendors by profession, were returning back to their home and died in a jiffy after a high-speed Range Rover ran over them in Vatika Chouk of Golf link road.  Both of them died in the same instant while the accused car driver fled the spot. However, other people travelling on the car have survived due to airbags, sources told News Nation.

According to a report, India surpassed China in 2006 as the nation with the world’s deadliest roads. A total of 146,133 people were killed on Indian roads in 2015, an increase of 4.6% from 2014, according to the latest data with the roads ministry. The number of road accidents in India increased 2.5% in 2015 to 501,423 while injuries from road accidents rose 1.4% to 500,279 in 2015.  Road accident fatalities jumped 54% in the decade to 2015 in tandem with a sharp increase in the number of vehicles on Indian roads and rapid urbanization and expansion of the road network.

Road safety remain a precarious issue in India. According to a research report- ‘Rear Seat Belt Usage and Child Road Safety’ by Nissan India and SaveLife Foundation, around 90 per cent of the total 6,306 respondents have clarified that they don’t use safety belts while driving. The report also claimed that only 20.1 per cent of 6,306 respondents wear helmets. According to data published by the Ministry of Road and Transport, about 9,408 children have lost their lives in 2017 alone for not following safety norms while driving.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Driver of the speeding truck has been arrested by cops.
• Delhi Police is investigating the sequence of the events.
• Cops want to know if driver was drunk at time of crash.