2 dead as van overturns on e-way
HT Correspondent
GHAZIABAD: Two people died and four were injured when a van overturned and caught fire on the Delhi-meerut Expressway near Masuri on Wednesday, police said, adding that according to their preliminary investigation, the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid ramming a scooty.
According to the police, the incident took place near Noorpur under the jurisdiction of the Masuri police station in Ghaziabad.
“Six people were travelling in the van, which was headed towards Delhi. They were scheduled to take a train to Nagpur. It appears that the driver tried to avoid ramming a scooty and lost control of the vehicle. It skidded, overturned, and its CNG cylinder caught fire. Two of the passengers were charred to death and three others were severely injured. The sixth person survived with minor injuries,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural).
“When the accident took place, local commuters rushed to help. In the meantime, the highway patrol and police vans arrived and doused the fire, with the fire department’s help. Three of the severely injured people were admitted to a private hospital where they are said to be stable,” Raja said.
Police said all the passengers are related and are residents of Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
They identified the deceased persons as Savita Prasad (22), and Chandra Prakash (35).
The three severely injured passengers were identified as Anuj Kumar (22), Nisha Singh (17), and Avdhesh Prasad (30).
The sixth person’s identity was withheld.
Police said they are trying to ascertain the exact reason for the accident by speaking with the injured persons and checking the footage of the CCTV cameras in the area. There is also no information so far regarding the scooty and its rider.