Vehicle rams school van with 10 on board in Delhi; 8-yr-old killed

EXPERTS SAID LACK OF REGULATIONS ON PRIVATE SCHOOL VANS WAS THE MAIN REASON BEHIND SUCH ACCIDENTS

NEWDELHI: An eight-year-old student of a private school was killed and nine other children were injured when a speeding goods carrier hit an overloaded private school van ferrying them near Nirankari Park in north Delhi’s Dheerpur on Tuesday afternoon.

The condition of one of the injured students, a nine-yearold girl, was critical. The tempo driver was driving the vehicle without a driving licence, the police said.

The boy who died in the accident was identified as Vaibhav Kumar Yadav. He was a class 3 student of Rosary Senior Secondary School in Kingsway Camp. His father, Vinod Kumar Yadav, is a Delhi Police sub-inspector (SI) posted in the crime branch. The nine injured students included Vaibhav’s 12-year-old sister Khushi, the police said.

The accident took place around 2 pm on Tara Chowk roundabout, close to a private coaching institute for civil services aspirants.

Some students of the institute who rescued the injured children said the van overturned and rolled on the at least thrice after being hit by the tempo.

“Vaibhav was thrown out of the van as soon as it was hit by the speeding goods carrier. He suffered serious head injuries and was bleeding profusely when I rushed him to the nearby Durga hospital on my bike,” said a civil services aspirant who identified himself as Raman.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (north) Harendra Kumar Singh said the private van, which did not have a commercial permit to run as a school van, was hired by family members of the injured students.

Experts said lack of regulations on private school vans was the main reason behind such accidents.

In 2013, a five-year-old girl was killed when a school van jumped a traffic signal at Dhaula Kuan and was hit by a car.

The incident triggered a crackdown on unauthorised school vans carrying children – at times beyond capacity. The issue remains a concern for parents and officials.

On April 26, a seven-year-old girl was killed and 17 other school students injured when their overloaded school van was rammed by a speeding milk tanker in north Delhi’s Kanhaiya Nagar.