Man charred to death after van catches fire

NEWDELHI: A 23-year-old driver of an Eeco van was charred to death after his vehicle caught fire at a traffic junction in south Delhi’s Sheikh Sarai in the early hours of Saturday, police said.

Romil Baaniya, deputy commissioner of police (south), said the front portion of the van was badly damaged, suggesting the blaze was triggered by a collision with another vehicle.

“It appears the van was at high speed while taking a turn at the BRT Road near Sheikh Sarai. We would be able to comment after identifying and interrogating the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident,” said the DCP.

The officer identified the dead man by his first name, Sumit, a native of Sonepat, Haryana. The accident took place while Sumit was transporting copies of newspapers to Gurugram from its printing press in Noida.

“The van is registered in the name of a man from east Delhi’s Jyoti Nagar but was being run by a resident of Sonepat,” said the officer. Sumit had been hired by the van owner around six months ago. The accident took place around 1.45 am. “There were no eyewitnesses to the accident,” said the officer.

Videos taken by passersby showed the vehicle engulfed in flames even as some people threw objects at it, apparently in their attempts to save the victim by breaking the van’s windows.

But by the time the fire tenders doused the flames and the driver was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital, he had died, said the officer. It then took the police several hours to find the vehicle owner, who helped identify the victim charred behind recognition.

Police have registered a case of causing death due to negligence at Ambedkar Nagar police station and efforts are on to identify the other vehicle that was probably involved in the accident.