Fire tender kills teen motorcyclist

New Delhi: A man died on Saturday after his motorcycle was hit by a fire brigade van which was en route to rescue a former local BJP leader who drowned in the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi, police said.

The motorcyclist has been identified as Rohit Pal (18), from 5th Pushta, Sonia Vihar. He was rushed to the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, a senior police officer said.

A fire tender was dispatched around 7.20 am after authorities received information that 50-year-old Kuldeep Nainwal, a resident of West Karawal Nagar and a former BJP mandal president, had drowned in the river.

“Kuldeep had gone to the Yamuna river near Thokar No. 7, Burari, along with friends Jaidutt Sharma (50) and Ran Bahadur Yadav (48) for prayers, when he reportedly slipped into deep water,” a senior police officer said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority and fire department staff were called for a rescue operation.

“While en route to Pushta Road near Chauhan Patti, the fire tender’s driver noticed the over speeding motorcyclist approaching from the opposite direction,”the officer said.

In an attempt to avoid a collision, the driver swerved towards the left, causing the vehicle to hit the roadside wall and sustain damage, but the accident could not be averted,” he added. A case under section 281 (rash and negligent driving and endangering public safety) and 106 (1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Sonia Vihar police station, and further investigation is in progress, he said.