GREATER NOIDA: Three persons, including two women, died while two others were seriously injured after a speeding truck travelling on the Noida-Agra carriageway jumped the divider and crashed into their Scorpio on the other side of the Yamuna expressway in the early hours of Tuesday.
The accident happened around 2.30am when Subhash Gupta (55), his wife Suman, their daughter Rinky, and two others — Suman’s sister Anita Gupta (35) and the SUV driver Pawan Dubey (38) — were travelling towards Delhi to visit a relative who recently underwent a kidney transplant at a private hospital in Saket.
Police suspect the truck driver dozed off behind the wheel and lost control of the vehicle on the high-speed corridor, leading to the fatal crash. While Pawan, Anita and Rinky died on the spot, Subhash and his wife sustained serious injuries.
In fact, Pawan died of a serious head injury, while Anita’s head got crushed resulting in inner parts coming out and Rinky succumbed to serious injuries in her chest, ribcage and head. The three were seated on the right side where the truck had hit, police said.
Subhash’s son Ankit told TOI that they got information about the accident around 2.35am, after which they reached Jewar and went to the hospital where Suman and Subhash were rushed to. Subhash is a mandal in-charge of the Hindu Yuva Vahini unit of Shoharatgarh in Siddharthnagar district.
“The truck was travelling on the Noida-Agra carriageway of the Yamuna expressway and the driver possibly fell asleep. The speeding truck jumped the divider and landed on the Agra-Noida carriageway crashing into the right side of the SUV being driven by Pawan,” Jewar SHO Umesh Bahadur said.
He said that the exact reason for the accident would be ascertained only after the truck driver is caught. “The truck driver fled the spot leaving the vehicle behind. Efforts are on to track him down. Subhash and Suman too are in a serious condition,” the SHO said.
Police are, however, yet to lodge an FIR. “A case will be filed as soon as a complaint is received from the family members. The truck has been seized,” Bahadur said.
The accident took place on a day when will the speed limit on the Yamuna Expressway was brought down from 100kmph to 80kmph. For heavy vehicles, the maximum speed had been reduced from 80kmph to 60kmph.
Yamuna Expressway sees a high number of accidents. During winter, speed reduction is a usual procedure on the expressway. With the dense fog these days, the current restrictions will remain in place till February 15.