Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 22, (IANS) In a tragic accident, two people died - one of them thrown off a flyover 40 feet high and another crushed to death - after they were hit by an iron grille dislodged as a speeding truck rammed into it on the Barapullah flyover connecting south and east Delhi, police said Thursday.

A biker — Sanjay Kumar, 25, a meter reader with BSES and an auto-rickshaw driver — Vijay Kumar, 29 were travelling on the flyover from Nehru stadium in south Delhi toward Sarai Kale Khan in east Delhi when the incident took place during rush hour traffic at 5:30 p.m.

“A speeding truck contracted by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) for waste management lost control and hit a pillar on the flyover and dislodged the iron grille on it, which in turn, hit the duo,” said a police official.

“Sanjay fell 40 feet to the ground near a drain while Vijay was crushed by the grille,” added the official.

The duo were taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) but declared dead by the doctors.

The driver of the truck, Abdur Rehman, 26 had initially fled from the spot but was arrested later.

Rehman, hailing from Hathras town of Uttar Pradesh, was on his way to his home in Sarai Kale Khan.

The Barapullah corridor - Delhi’s first fully elevated and highest road was constructed to ease the passage of Commonwealth Games athletes from the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the mega event held Oct 3-14, 2010.

In a similar incident Dec 3, a speeding truck broke the iron railings of the ISBT flyover in north Delhi and fell several feet down on the road. Five people in the truck were injured.

In another incident, a Maruti Swift car plunged 15 metres after its driver lost control over the vehicle on south Delhi’s Jangpura flyover Nov 22. However, the driver and the three passengers survived the accident.

On Sep 29, a teenage boy died on the spot when his Honda Civic car hit the footpath, took off and went over the railings of south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar flyover before it crashed into a government warehouse.