4 killed, 7 injured as truck hits pick-up van in Kaithal
KARNAL: Three women and a youth were killed and seven others sustained injuries as a speeding truck hit a pick-up van on the Kaithal-Kurukshetra road on Saturday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Sukhdevi, 50, Bhateri Devi, 52, and Aman, 15, residents of Kathwar village, and Sukhdei, 49, of Hajwana village of Kaithal district.
They victims were returning to their villages after attending a religious function at a temple in Tohana in Fatehabad district.
The seven injured were rushed to the civil hospital in Kaithal. Three of them — Urmila, Pawan and Jagga — were later referred to the PGIMER Chandigarh as their condition was critical.
Surender, one of the injured, said the accident took place when a tyre of the pick-up van got punctured and the driver parked it at the roadside to replace it. But a speeding truck came from behind and hit the van. The collision was so strong that the truck pushed the pick-up van and its passengers, who were standing on the road side, to about 30 ft away from the spot. The driver of the truck managed to flee immediately after the incident.
Investigation officer (IO) Ramesh Kumar said the police have registered a case under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the truck driver and efforts are on to arrest him. Meanwhile, the police have taken the truck in their possession. He said the condition of the four injured admitted to the Kaithal hospital was stable.
The bodies of the deceased have been sent for postmortem and the police have informed their family members.