Fresh details have emerged in the fatal road accident on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway that claimed four lives on Friday. According to investigators, two families from Mandhora village in Haryana's Sonipat district were travelling to Haridwar in separate vehicles when the tragedy occurred near the Halgoya cut in the Rampur Maniharan area.
Police said the driver of a Tata Tiago, identified as Jaidev, was reversing the car at the expressway cut when it was hit from behind by a speeding Scorpio. An NHAI patrol worker who witnessed the accident claimed the Tiago was being reversed without its hazard or reverse lights switched on. CCTV footage of the incident reportedly shows the Tiago being dragged for nearly 300 metres after the impact, while the Scorpio overturned due to the force of the collision.
The extensive damage to both vehicles has raised questions about the Scorpio's speed at the time of the crash. The accident also caused a traffic jam on the expressway.
In the aftermath of the incident, District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Chauhan constituted a committee to investigate the exact causes of the crash. The panel will examine whether the accident site qualifies as a black spot and recommend safety measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The postmortem reports of the four deceased, Praveen, his wife Preeti, Sudesh and Shivansh, revealed that all suffered multiple rib fractures in the collision. The broken ribs severely damaged their lungs and respiratory system, leading to death by suffocation. Police have included the postmortem findings in the ongoing investigation.
The investigation also found that the Scorpio involved in the accident was registered in the name of Praveen's wife, Neelam. Praveen, who was driving the SUV, is undergoing treatment at SBD District Hospital under police supervision.
Following requests from the victims' families, the district administration arranged for postmortems to be conducted late on Friday night. The bodies were subsequently taken to Mandhora village in Sonipat for the last rites. Injured survivors, including Jaidev, Preeti and Bhumi, were discharged from the hospital and returned home with their families.
