Toddler flung out of car in road crash, dies

NEW DELHI: A road collision in outer north Delhi’s Alipur area sent a two-year-old girl flying out of a car, fatally injuring her when she hit the asphalt, police said on Tuesday.

The collision occurred with an allegedly speeding SUV rear-ending a car, which had the toddler, her mother, and four more people travelling in it.

After the accident, the driver of the SUV -- a Toyota Fortuner -- fled, abandoning his vehicle behind.

The incident took place around 2 pm on Sunday near a traffic signal on GTK Road, the police said. The SUV was allegedly speeding at 100 to 120 kmph, and hit the car, a Maruti Celerio, carrying four adults and two children, an officer said. According to the FIR, the impact caused the car to spin before hitting the road divider.

“The toddler was sitting on the lap of her mother’s friend on the front passenger seat with the car window open as the air conditioning system was not working,” the officer said.

The force of the collision caused the child to be thrown out of the window and onto the road, he said. According to the FIR, the complainant, Ravindra Singh, a 47-year-old native of Haryana’s Sonipat, told police that they were returning from Rani Khera when the accident happened.

“We had kept the windows open as the AC was not working. My daughter, Jyoti, was holding the child in her lap in the front seat when a speeding vehicle hit us from behind,” the FIR quoted Singh as saying.

Arti, the mother of the two-year-old deceased, Devanshi, was driving the car. The group included Singh’s son, Deepak, his daughter, Jyoti, and her friend, Arti, who was travelling with her two toddlers. According to the police, the speeding SUV rammed into the smaller car just as a signal turned green.

Police have registered a case, seized the vehicles and are examining CCTV footage to trace the driver.