Speeding dumper kills 2 pedestrians

Vehicle was carrying soil for the coastal road project

Two pedestrians died after a speeding dumper truck, carrying soil for the coastal road project, mowed them down on Delisle Road in Lower Parel on Monday night.

While one of them died on the spot, the other succumbed to his injuries during treatment at a hospital. The police have arrested the driver of the truck, Sachin Kumar Chavhan, 24.

The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Monday, when a line of dumpers were headed to Worli to dump soil for construction of the coastal road. According to the police, below the Lower Parel monorail station, Chavhan lost control of his truck and dashed into garbage containers kept beside the road. While he was trying to get the vehicle under his control, it mowed down Sanjay Sakharam Pawar, 59, and Pratap More, 50, who were crossing the road. A Maruti Omni parked on the road was also damaged in the accident. “More died on the spot while Pawar was rushed to a hospital where he died during treatment," said an officer.

More was a resident of Kalyan while Pawar was from Worli.

After the accident, Chavhan tried to flee, but was caught by residents of the area who handed him over to the police.

“We have arrested the driver under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of causing death due to negligence (304 A) and rash driving (279)," said senior police inspector Pandit Thakre of NM Joshi Marg police station.

“We had warned the authorities about the movement of dumpers through the area, and cautioned them that this could lead to an accident. However, they did not listen to us,” alleged Rajesh Shah, a resident of the area.

“Earlier, the dumper trucks used another route to Worli. However, after an accident, they changed their usual route and started using the Chinchpokli bridge. However, that route too was later changed to Delisle Road after local residents objected. The Curry Road bridge that is being used for movement of dumper trucks is also dangerous," he added.