Four occupants of a car that crashed at high speed on the Yamuna Expressway hanged on to dear life, literally.
The accident took place near the zero point on the expressway around 10 a.m. when the driver, Sachin, who lost his life in the tragic incident, lost control over the speeding sports utility vehicle after hitting the central verge and it came to rest precariously on the railing of the expressway, almost 50-foot above the ground, with two persons in the front seat and three in the rear. A Noida Police team, exhibiting exceptional presence of mind and exemplary courage, rescued four persons from the car.
Though a police team reached the spot within minutes, the task at hand was far more difficult than it appeared as the vehicle could fall off the expressway anytime, recalled Station House Officer (Kasna) Deepak Sharma, who led the two-hour-long dramatic rescue operation.
“It was a heart-rending scene. The hand of the woman in the vehicle got severed and fell on the ground. She was bleeding profusely and screaming for help. There were three persons on the rear seat and two in the front,” said Mr. Sharma, who was also helped by Pari Chowk police post in-charge Raghubir Yadav.
The three persons in the rear of the vehicle were holding the iron grill inside the vehicle and resting on the rear windscreen.
The windscreen was slowly giving way due to their weight, making the rescue a race against time.
The first challenge before the police was to ensure that the vehicle did not fall during the rescue.
“As the first step we diverted traffic from the road. We stopped commercial vehicles to provide support to the vehicle from underneath and then called two private cranes to hold the vehicle from the front. After it was ensured that the vehicle would not fall, we pressed into service a hydraulic lift used to repair electric poles to pull out Vinita Sidhana (40), her son Sanik Sidhana (18) and friend Bhagya Narain Dubey (30), who were sitting in back of the vehicle,” said Mr. Sharma.
Vinita and her severed arm were rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi.
“We had to use cutters to pull out Rajesh Sidhana (45) and Sachin, who were sitting in the front. Unfortunately Sachin (30) died on the spot,” Mr. Sharma added.
Rajesh was the last to be pulled out from the dangling vehicle.
The family was returning from Agra when the accident took place.
