New Delhi: A speeding dumper truck ploughed into at least three auto-rickshaws and a scooter near India Gate in the early hours of Tuesday, killing a man and his eight-year-old daughter and injuring two, police said.
The horror unfolded shortly after midnight when the truck driver lost control of his vehicle and ran over vehicles and pedestrians before crossing the divider and landing in the lawns of the Central Delhi boulevard.
Kewal Diwan (42) and his daughter Manya (8), residents of Geeta Colony, were killed, police said. The impact was so intense that the vehicles were reduced to a mangled heap of metal. The driver, identified as Raman (24), a resident of Badarpur, was arrested from the spot and the vehicle seized, they said.
"We received information around 12.20 am regarding the accident near India Gate on Man Singh Road. A team rushed to the spot and found that one dumper had entered Rajpath lawns (south side) after hitting several vehicles and crossing over the footpath," said a senior police officer.
Eye-witnesses told police the dumper first hit the divider after which it hit the autos and pedestrians standing near the footpath. A man aged around 42 years was also found lying near the dumper. He was immediately shifted to hospital where he was declared brought dead. He was later identified as Kewal Diwan.
Manya was also declared brought dead to the hospital. While little remained of the auto-rickshaws, a two-wheeler was crushed under the truck, police said.
"Three injured persons were taken to hospital. Of them, one girl was declared brought dead," an official said. He added that the driver, Raman, received a fracture in his right hand.
"He has been sent to the LNJP hospital, where he is undergoing treatment and will be tested for alcohol. A case under relevant sections of the law has been registered in the case," the official said.
Those injured have been identified as Deepak Kumar (27), an auto-rickshaw driver and a resident of Mata Sundari Road, and Ram Singh (24), a labourer who was on the footpath and is a resident of Unnao in UP. "The two are undergoing treatment," the officer added.
