NEW DELHI: In a tragedy mishap that again underlined how Delhi’s roads become death-traps at night, a couple lost their lives when a dumper overturned and crushed their i20 car near Hyatt Regency Hotel on Ring Road around midnight Wednesday. Their six-year-old daughter had a miraculous escape and was rescued by cops and firemen.
Manish Sharma (37), a senior legal adviser at a private company, and his wife, Shipra (33), were returning home to Noida after visiting relatives in Bhiwani, Haryana.
They had celebrated their eighth marriage anniversary on Tuesday. Police said the dumper was carrying gravel for the Central Vista project.
Fatal crash: Dumper overturned trying to give way to another car
The dumper’s driver, Arvind Yadav (25), was trying to give way to a speeding car when it accidentally rammed the divider. Such was the impact was that the dumper overturned and fell on the i20 car. The driver’s cabin also caught fire. Yadav was arrested on Thursday evening.
When the police responded to a call about a vehicle catching fire and reached the site – the carriageway for traffic going towards AIIMS from Dhaula – they found the family trapped in the car. DCP, South West district, Gaurav Sharma, was at the spot with his men and the fire brigade, too, arrived soon after but the heavy dumper could not be removed.
The couple’s six-year old daughter, Mishika, was lying on the rear seat with her feet stuck,” recalled Sharma. “Manish was completely crushed under the truck and could not be moved and his wife Shipra was also trapped. Their daughter was conscious and constantly asking for her mother. Since the rear side could be accessed with great difficulty, we tried to create space. We could not see the condition of her legs, but to ensure that her feet weren’t crushed, we put some wooden logs inside”
It took the police around one-and-a-half hours to rescue the child and around two-and-a-half hours to get the couple out. Meanwhile, the team also tried to remove the construction material to reduce load on the car.
Later, the cops arranged for a hydraulic crane, stopping the traffic for a while. All three were shifted to AIIMS where the couple was pronounced dead while their daughter was treated for her injuries and later discharged. She has been handed over to her grandparents.
A case for rash and negligent driving causing death has been booked against the driver.
The family members of the couple said they received information about the accident around 3am after a person on the spot picked up the phone, apparently belonging to the Sharmas, and called the numbers listed there. Vivek Pathak, Manish’s cousin, said: “I was shocked to see the condition of the car. It was completely damaged. We don’t know what to tell their daughter. Manish was a well-read guy and fond of books, a very bright person. The police must investigate what caused the dumper to overturn.”
