‘Consolation is they lived their last days happily’
NEW DELHI: “They prayed at Amritsar’s Golden Temple and saw snow-clad mountains in Manali. They were very happy and excited in their last few days,” says Karan Kumar Chopra, a government employee in his 50s.
“Every few hours on the trip, my son would call us over video chats and ensure we were with him through the trip,” added his wife Jyoti, choking on tears.
That is the only consolation for the west Delhi couple who lost their 24-year-old son, daughterin-law, a granddaughter and another relative in a car accident in Haryana’s Karnal district in the early hours of Tuesday.
Sanchit Chopra, his wife, 22-year-old Bhavna, her mother Nisha, 55, and the couple’s sevenmonth old daughter, Tusharika, were returning to Delhi from a holiday when their Maruti Swift car jumped a road divider, rolled over thrice before ramming a truck on the other carriageway.
Police said the car’s fuel tank burst, engulfing all the four occupants in flame. They died before they could be brought out of the car. “My little granddaughter was found stuck to her mother’s chest. She must have clung to her mother because of the flames. Her body had to be pulled off forcibly,” said Karan.
Karan Chopra’s family lived in M-Block in west Delhi’s Hari Nagar. Sanchit worked with Jeep company in Gurgaon and his wife was a homemaker. They were married in July 2016 and blessed with a daughter a year later.
Sanchit’s cousin, Bal Kishan, said the couple bonded over their love for mountains and temples. “We had been to Vridnavan a few weeks ago. This time, Sanchit and Bhavna decided to use the extended weekend to celebrate Holi in Amritsar. They decided to make it a road trip and took their daughter and Bhavna’s mother along,” said Kishan.
They celebrated Holi with Bhavna’s cousins in Amritsar before travelling to Mcleodganj and Manali. “They were to reach Delhi around 3 am on Tuesday,” said Karan, an early riser.
But when Karan woke up at 4 am, he did not find them home and dialled his son’s number. “When the call went unanswered, I was worried. I then dialled Bhavna, but a stranger received the call,” said Karan.
The person told him the phone was recovered from a car involved in an accident near Shamgarh in Karnal. “Neither the stranger, nor the policeman who later spoke to me, told me it was a fire. The policeman later only told me that there was less than 1% chance of survival of the car occupants,” said Karan.
As Karan readied to rush to Karnal, a poorly parked vehicle behind his car added to his desperation. “I asked my daughter and son-in-law to come from Rohini and drive me to Karnal. But by the time I reached there, the bodies were being bundled in an ambulance ,” said Karan.
Sanchit’s family didn’t want to blame anyone for the tragedy. They said Sanchit was an “accomplished driver” who drove to work everyday. “We don’t know what caused the petrol car to go up in flames. It was just 18 months old and well-maintained,” said Karan.
“I got to know that people from a nearby petrol pump and fields rushed to save my family, but the fire engulfed the car rapidly. Three fire tenders reached the spot in four minutes, but they couldn’t be saved,” said Karan.
His wife said Sanchit, Bhavna and their daughter were the only source of joy in their lives. t