Four killed, 8 hurt as truck hits van on Expressway

Van was parked on roadside; truck driver arrested

DE05 van

In yet another fatal accident on Yamuna Expressway, four persons died and eight others were injured as a speeding truck hit a stationary van late on Monday night.

Jewar police station incharge Ajay Kumar Sharma said that 18 people were travelling in the van. “The victims were travelling from Khurja in Bulandshar to Faridabad. The tyre of the van got punctured at the near Dayanatpur village. The driver parked the vehicle by the side of the road and was trying to fix the problem when the van was hit by a speeding truck that was coming from the same direction,” he said.

Badly damaged

The occupants in the van were critically injured and the vehicle badly damaged. A passerby informed the police and the injured were rushed to Kailash Hospital in Jewar, where four of them — identified as Harnarayan, Jaypal, Mahendri, and Rupwati — were declared dead. The injured — Hetram, Ashok, Chandrapal, Deendayal, Prempal, Sonu, Mithlesh and Kusum — are currently recuperating at the hospital.

Toll operators rescue

“We were standing next to the van when the truck rammed it. Some of the van’s occupants were trapped inside and some locals and toll operators rescued us,” said Ashok, one of the injured.

Mr. Sharma said that the accused truck driver was identified as Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Sultanpur village. “The police arrested the accused from the spot and the truck was seized. We are investigating the matter,” he said.

Yamuna expressway has witnessed several fatal accidents after its opening. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, in its inspection, had found some safety measures were not in place on the expressway. Following the findings the authority had said it would send a report to the State government asking to suspend toll collection if the toll operators did not fix the problems.