Student riding scooter without helmet hit by school bus, dies

Noida: A 22-year-old student riding his two-wheeler home was killed after being hit by a school bus at the sector 47-48 junction in Noida on Tuesday afternoon.
The accident occurred around 1am. Police said that Prashant Lohia, a resident of Gejha village in Sector 93, was not wearing a helmet and suffered severe head injuries after falling from his scooter. The school bus, however, sped away after the accident.
“A police response vehicle (PRV) immediately reached the spot and rushed Prashant, a Class 12 student of a local government school, to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival,” additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh told TOI.
Police said the family members of the deceased were informed and the body was sent for an autopsy. “His father is a local politician. Efforts are on to identify the school bus and track down its driver,” the officer said.
On the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, meanwhile, a group of six cyclists were injured after a truck ploughed into them on Tuesday. While five of them suffered minor cuts and bruises, one cyclist sustained serious injuries in the accident.
The accident occurred around 6.30am when some 14 cyclists were returning home in Noida from Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk around 6.30am.
“The injured cyclists were taken to a private hospital for treatment. One of them suffered a deep cut in his ankle,” said the additional DCP (Noida). “A written complaint has been received in the matter and further investigation is underway. We have seized the truck but the driver is absconding.”
The injured have been identified as Virendra Shukla, a resident of Logix Blossom County in Sector 137, Kumar Gaurav and Naveen Kumar, residents of Exotica Fresco in Sector 137, Sangeeta, a resident of Paramount Floraville in Sector 137, and Anshuman Gupta and Shivani Gupta, residents of Sector 14.
According to Lakshmi Kant Shukla, one of the 14 cyclists, “Eight of us were ahead while six were behind us and cycling in a queue along the side of the road. Suddenly, a truck hit the second group from behind. We got to know about the accident from a commuter and rushed to the spot.”
Meanwhile, Rajiva Singh, president of the Noida RWA umbrella body NOFAA and a cyclist himself, blamed the authorities for having failed to develop cycle tracks in the district.
“Cyclists are left with no choice but to ride on the main roads,” he said.
“The expressways are wide and appear to be safer than the service lanes but high-speed traffic poses a serious threat to cyclists. A dedicated cycling corridor during the morning hours could help,” he said. However, police said that people were not allowed to cycle on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway as well as the Yamuna Expressway.
“We are going to issue an advisory soon. We urge people to cycle on the service lanes rather than on the main carriageways roads of the expressways,” DCP (traffic) Ganesh Saha said.