Rising fatalities in neighbouring Greater Noida continue unabated. In a high speed crash in the early hours on Tuesday, four persons were killed while two others suffered grievous injuries when a speeding dumper hit an auto. Police said that the accident occurred due to negligence of the dumper’s driver as he was reportedly in an inebriated condition.
Police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the errant driver but he has not been arrested yet.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over the mishap and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. Local MP and Union Minister Mahesh Sharma also met the families of those killed in the tragic road accident.
Police said the accident took place near IFS Colony at around 5 am. Dhananjay Mishra, SHO of Kasna, said six persons were going from Rabupura to Sabzi Mandi in Noida Phase-II early morning.
“When they reached near NSG Society in Greater Noida, a speeding vehicle, going towards Greater Noida, hit the auto injuring the occupants critically,” he said.
A police team reached the spot and rushed the victims to a private hospital, where four of them were declared dead. The two injured were later discharged from hospital. Mishra said that the accused driver fled with the dumper after the accident. “We have registered a case in this regard. We are trying to identify the vehicle and the driver involved in the accident,” he said.
Passers-by said the impact of the accident was so high that the auto was completely crushed. “It appeared that the accused driver was drunk as he was driving his vehicle on the wrong side. He (driver) lost control and hit hard the auto full with passengers. The accident resulted in severe injuries to the passengers who were inside the auto. They were rushed to Kailash Hospital later. Shockingly, the accused driver fled the spot leaving the victims in a pool of blood,” said Yogesh Naagar, a passer-by.
The deceased were identified as Naresh (auto driver) and passengers — Sazid, Raqib and Ashid, all residents of Rabupura town. They were going to the wholesale vegetable market in Noida Phase-2. Police said two of the deceased — Sazid and Raquib — were siblings. The two injured were identified as Javeed and Nayeem whose condition was stated to be critical. The accident also led to a massive traffic jam in and around the city and the traffic personnel took two to three hours to clear out the congestion.
Soon after the accident, the UP CM expressed grief over the incident and announced compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and the cheques was reportedly distributed to the bereaved families by District Magistrate N P Singh on Tuesday evening itself. The area MP and several local politicians also visited their (deceased) families.