SUV kills safety officer working on NH-24
In an accident that highlighted the unsafe working conditions on the national highway-24 (NH-24) expansion project in east Delhi, a safety officer was killed and two other workers injured after being rammed by an allegedly speeding Toyota Fortuner on Thursday.
The impact of the hit was such that the safety officer, 27-year-old Jasveer Singh, first lost a leg before falling on the white Fortuner’s bonnet. The car driver, however, did not stop and drove a 50 metres before swerving the SUV to throw off the victim before speeding away.
“Everything happened so quickly that I could not note down the SUV’s registration number. There was dust all around,” said Keshav, a worker who survived the accident.
The police are yet to trace the car involved in the accident.
“There are CCTV cameras installed, but they are not working because of the construction work going on for the expansion of the NH-24,” police said.
The accident occurred around 1.45am on Thursday Mayur Vihar Phase-2.
Singh, Keshav, Deepak and a driver Sachin had been tasked with putting up safety boards along the road where expansion work is going on.
Massive construction work is on at NH-24 from Sarai Kale Khan up to UP Gate for the expansion of the arterial road and the building of Meerut Expressway.
These men, hired by a construction company, had been moving around in a van to place the safety boards. The accident occurred when Singh, Keshav and Deepak got off the van to place the boards.
“Singh was instructing us on how to go about the work. Our safety blinker lights were on. But the SUV rammed the van and hit us,” said Keshav.
The worst hit was Singh who lost his left leg. As the Fortuner drove on with Singh’s body, Keshav and Deepak lay injured.
Sachin, the sole unharmed man, called the police control room after which a PCR team reached the accident spot. The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital, where Singh was declared brought dead. The other two are out of danger.
A case of causing death, rash and negligent driving and causing hurt has been registered against the unidentified driver. “It is a case of hit-and-run. We are yet to get a clue in this case,” said Omvir Singh, DCP (East).