8-yr-old crossing road mowed down by truck

NEWDELHI: An eight-year-old girl died and her older sister was hurt after they were knocked down by a truck when they were crossing a road on their way back from school in south Delhi’s Govindpuri on Saturday afternoon. The truck driver rushed the children to a hospital before fleeing in the face of an angry public and the worsening condition of the younger girl.

The police seized the truck but the driver remained on the run till Saturday evening, said Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (south-east). “He has been booked for causing death due to negligence and rash driving,” the DCP said.

The siblings, Sandhya and Kamini, lived with their parents in Balmiki Mohalla in Tughlaqabad village. Sandhya, 8, was a student of class two and Kamini, 14, studies in class eight. “Initial probe suggested the truck hit the children immediately after the signal turned green at the DDA traffic junction on Ravidas Marg,” an officer said.

“The truck driver apparently thought the injuries were not serious and offered to rush the children to a hospital. He took them to a hospital and got them admitted,” he added.

Police said Sandhya did not sustain serious visible external injuries but her condition deteriorated by the time she was admitted. Police have identified the driver and are looking for him.