12 killed, 9 hurt as racing trucks cause multi-vehicle collision

NEW DELHI: At least 12 people were reported dead and six injured after a jumbo-sized container truck, which was racing with another, rammed a Cruiser SUV and a Swift Dzire in Haryana’s Sonipat on Sunday evening. Most of the deceased belonged to Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana. Pratiksha, superintendent of police, Sonipat, said an FIR under sections of rash driving (279 IPC) and causing death due to negligence (304A IPC) were registered and investigations were on. Police have not been able to locate the driver of the truck.
The incident took place around 6.30pm near Mundlana village along the Gohana-Panipat National Highway. There were at least 16 people in the Cruiser SUV, whereas the Dzire had one occupant. The SUV was headed towards Panipat. The container was coming from the opposite side at high speed. The Dzire was behind the SUV. The driver of the container lost control over the wheel, allegedly while overtaking a vehicle and rammed the divider. The container was at such a high speed that it broke through the divider and rammed the SUV. The Dzire then hit the SUV from behind, leaving it badly mangled.

Locals rushed to the spot and also informed police and fire brigade. It took nearly 30 minutes to extricate the bodies, locals said. While some of them were taken to Khanpur Medical College, others were rushed to another hospital located nearby. Twelve of them were declared brought dead.

Police were trying to identify the deceased and contact their relatives till late in the evening, an officer said. The deceased were identified as Kasim, Sabnoor, Sarvej, Farman, Vahkem, Kadab, Kaven, Urf Kala, Kalai Bamuk, Farooq, Dabiq and Ramcharan from the documents found in their possession. The police have contacted their counterparts in Kairana to help contact the kin.

Police said they would scan CCTV footage to ascertain the exact sequence of events.

The owner of the truck is being tracked on the basis of registration details of the vehicle.