Seven killed after auto-rickshaw rams into crane in Bihar: Police

PATNA: Seven people, including a child and a toddler, were killed and another man was critically injured after an autorickshaw they were travelling in rammed into a crane and overturned in Patna on Tuesday, police said.

The accident occurred on Old Bypass road under Kankarbagh police station limits around 3.45 am when the auto-rickshaw, which was overcrowded, was ferrying passengers from Mithapur towards Zero Mile in the Bihar’s capital city, a senior police officer said.

“Preliminary investigation, based on eye-witnesses’ account and CCTV footages, reveals that the auto-rickshaw driver lost control over the vehicle and collided head-on into a Hydra Crane, engaged in Metro work, before overturning multiple times,” Patna deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Rajeev Mishra told HT.

The impact of the collision was such that four passengers died on the spot while three others succumbed to their injuries during treatment at the Patna Central Hospital, police said.

“A joint team of traffic department and Kankarbagh police rushed to the spot upon receiving the information,” Patna superintendent of police (traffic) Ashok Kumar Choudhary said. “After the collision, the drivers of the crane and auto-rickshaw fled with their vehicles. A case under appropriate sections has been registered.”

A clip of the accident from nearby CCTV camera was widely circulated on social media. Later in the day, the Patna police seized the severely damaged auto-rickshaw from Mithapur while officers said that a search was on to locate the crane.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the incident. “The chief minister has conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the family members and instructed officials to offer best medical services to the injured,” a statement from the CM’s office said.

THE AUTO DRIVER LOST CONTROL OVER THE VEHICLE AND COLLIDED HEAD-ON INTO A HYDRA CRANE, SAY POLICE