School bus kills NDMC worker on cycle, colleague critically injured

NEW DELHI: A 59-year-old man, working as a gardener with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), was killed and his 35-year-old colleague was critically injured after the bicycle they were riding was hit by a speeding bus in central Delhi Friday morning.

The accident took place around 11am at the Shahjahan Road-prithviraj Road Q-point intersection on the carriageway towards INA Market. The bus, which belongs to Burari’s Sarvodaya Kanya Vidalaya school, was ferrying around 40 to 50 students and teachers, when it hit the bicycle riders, killing the victim, Rajender Prasad, on the spot. Prasad was a resident of Durgapuri in northeast Delhi. The injured was identified as Rajendra, from Haryana’s Jhajjar.

The police said the two men were heading towards the NDMC’S enquiry office near Khan Market. Eyewitnesses told the police that the bicycle riders were taking a left turn towards Prithviraj Lane, when the bus coming from India Gate hit them from behind.

“The driver of the bus and the helper fled the spot, leaving the bus behind,” said a man working at one of the shops close to the spot, who preferred to not be named.

By the time police reached the spot,the teachers and students had left for their destination in another vehicle, the police said,adding that they were unhurt.

“By the time police reached, Prasad had already been rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre, where he was declared dead on arrival. The injured man has been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and his condition is critical,” Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), said.

“We have registered a case of rash driving causing hurt, and death by negligence, against the bus driver at the Tughlaq Road police station. Efforts are on to nab him, and the bus has been impounded, and its ownership been established,” Verma added.