Five killed in two accidents on Delhi roads (Roundup)

NEW DELHI - Five people, including three school students, were killed and 17 suffered multiple injuries in two road accidents in the capital Wednesday. While a mini-bus overturned in the first accident, a bus ran over two siblings going on a motorbike in the second.

Three people, including a 17-year-old student, died and 17 were hurt when the speeding mini-bus they were riding in overturned near the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT).

The mini-bus, plying between trans-Yamuna area and the ISBT, overturned near the Sushrata Trauma Centre around 8.15 a.m. The bus, which was carrying over 20 passengers, overturned reportedly because one of its tyres burst.

“After the tyre burst, the driver lost control of the bus and it overturned,” said a witness.

All the injured were rushed to the Sushrata Trauma Centre where three people were declared dead while 17 were said to be recuperating. One of those killed was identified as Pradeep Thakur, a student of Ludlow Castle School.

“We are yet to identify the other two men who died in the accident. They appear to be aged between 25-30,” said a police official.

Eight of the injured students were from Jain Public School, the Ludlow Castle School and the Rastogi Public School in Daryaganj area of central Delhi.

The police said the bus driver fled the scene after the accident. A search is under way to nab him.

“A case has been registered against him,” the police official added.

The Delhi government ordered an inquiry into the accident.

We have sought a report into the incident and will take stringent action against those responsible, Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely told reporters after the accident.

According to a fact-finding team of the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), the mini-bus was overloaded and was speeding.

The injured passengers and their relatives confirmed this bus carries over 40 passengers and crew on weekdays as against its carrying capacity of 18 passengers. The bus was running at a speed of over 60 km per hour as against its legal speed limit of 40 km per hour, said S.P. Singh of IFTRT.

It is clear that the speed control device in this vehicle is either not functional or has been tampered with. The vehicle toppled on this multi-lane Ring Road as its rear left tyre got punctured and the overspeeding bus lost control, leading to this accident,” he added.

In the second accident, a state-run bus ran over a brother and sister who were riding a motorbike after a head-on collision in Ashok Vihar area, also around 8.30 a.m.

Karan Pal Narang, 17, and his sister Ishu Narang, 13, were going to their Mata Jai Kaur Public School on the motorbike around 8.30 a.m. when the accident took place in Bharat Nagar area in northwest Delhi.

“Karan was driving the bike while Ishu was riding pillion. Their motorbike slipped near Deep Market and they were run over by a DTC school bus coming from the opposite direction,” a police officer said.

The bus was returning to DTC depot after dropping children of Guru Har Kishan Public School.

Both the teenagers died on the spot. They lived with their parents in Ashok Vihar Phase-I area.

Th driver of the bus, Ramesh, has been arrested, the officer said.