Five killed as SUV crashes into truck on Yamuna Expressway

GREATER NOIDA: Five tourists, including four women, died and two others were critically injured when their SUV crashed into an overloaded truck moving slowly ahead of it on the Yamuna Expressway at the crack of dawn on Thursday.
Police said preliminary investigation suggested that the driver of the Bolero may have dozed off and by the time he slammed the brakes, it was too late.
The five who died have been identified as Pune residents Chandrakant Burade (68), Swarna Burade (59), Malan Kumbhar (68) and Ranjana Pawar (60) and Nuwanjan Mujawar (53), who was from Karnataka. Narayan Kolekar (40), who is from Satara in Maharashtra, and Sunita Gaste (35) of Karnataka are battling grievous injuries in hospital. Narayan, the police said, was driving the Bolero.
The seven were part of a bigger group of tourists who were on a 'Char Dham' yatra. A bus with around 40 others from the group was following the SUV when the accident occurred about 2km before the Jewar toll plaza around 5am.
Meenakshi Katyayan, the deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida), said the group of tourists had left Vrindavan around 4am and were headed towards Kedarnath. "Initial efforts to bring out the tourists proved difficult as the front portion of the SUV was mangled. The seven were rushed to Kailash hospital in Jewar," she said.
By the time the ambulance reached the hospital, over 20km away, it was 5.45am. "Five of them were dead when they were brought in. Narayan and Sunita are in the ICU," said Dr AK Singh, the medical superintendent at Kailash Hospital.
Late on Thursday evening, an FIR was registered under sections 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life) and 304A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.
"We have seized the truck, but its driver and helper are absconding. We have already contacted the families of the deceased and are preparing to hand over the bodies. An investigation is underway," said Anjani Kumar Singh, the Jewar police station in-charge.