Steel sheet roll from truck crushes woman on NH-24
GHAZIABAD: A 35-year-old woman was crushed to death under a heavy steel roll sheet that fell off a truck late Sunday night, police said. The family of the victim has filed an FIR against the UP public works department and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for poor maintenance of the road, which they say, caused the accident.
The incident took place around 11.15pm on Sunday when the woman, Soniya, was riding pillion on a bike being driven by her husband on a service road connecting Lal Kuan with NH-24 in Ghaziabad. As they were passing by an open truck carrying two steel sheet rolls, the truck lost its balance “due to potholes” and one of the two rolls on the truck, weighing several hundred kilograms, fell on the woman, a police officer said quoting the FIR.
The couple were residents of Indergarhi locality near NH-24 and was returning from a wedding at Dujana in Gautam Budh Nagar. NK Tomar, the woman’s brother-in-law who was following them on another bike, said, “Soniya was crushed under the roll. We could remove the roll only after an hour with the help of a crane and the police. Soniya’s body was disfigured.”
“The truck driver and the truck owner are equally responsible as the roll was not tied properly. After the truck drove over potholes, it tilted and the roll fell off, crushing the woman. Her husband was thrown off the bike some distance away and was saved,” Tomar said.
“We have lodged an FIR against an unidentified truck driver and officials of the PWD and the NHAI as per the complaint lodged by the victim’s family. The family has stated the pothole-filled road as the main reason behind the accident,” Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police HN Singh said.
Officials of UP PWD said they were not responsible for maintaining the service lane. “The two service lanes, to and from, the highway are maintained by the NHAI. Our area of jurisdiction on GT Road is only up to Lal Kuan,” PWD executive engineer Manish Verma said.
The NHAI officials said an inquiry will be conducted and the report will be handed over to the UP PWD (NH division). “We will have to check and inquire if the maintenance of the road is our responsibility,” said RP Singh, project director, NHAI.