A seven-year-old schoolgirl was killed while 17 other schoolchildren injured when a private school van carrying them was hit by a rashly
driven milk tanker near Kanhaiya Nagar Metro station in Northwest Delhi’s Keshavpuram area on Thursday.
According to police, the deceased girl, identified as Garima Chauhan, was a resident of JJ Colony area of Wazirpur. She succumbed to injuries at Mahant Gurumukh Singh Hospital in Punjabi Bagh. The driver of the milk tanker has been arrested.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Aslam Khan said, “We got a PCR call about an accident around 6.48 am. As many as 18 schoolchildren were injured in the accident. Out of them, one succumbed to injuries and three critically injured children are undergoing treatment at the AIIMS Trauma Centre,
while other children are recuperating at Sushruta Trauma Centre, lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital.”
The accident took place when the school van was heading from Keshavpuram towards Kanhaiya Nagar area, police said.
“Tanker driver Sanjeev (38) has been arrested. A case has been registered against him for violations of Motor Vehicles Act,” Khan said.
“The sound of the collision drew the attention of locals who instead of waiting for police, pulled out the injured children one by one and rushed them to nearby hospitals.
Once the tanker hit the school van, the windshield of the van smashed and the children sitting at the front were thrown into the shards of glass on the road. Garima was sitting close to the windshield and suffered serious injuries,” said the officer.
“The students aged between seven and 12 were on their way to schools. The victims are students of Cedar Grove Middle School, Kendra Vidyalaya and and Champion Theme School,” said a police official.
In another accident, three school students suffered minor injuries when they were hit by a car at Northwest Delhi’s Bharat Nagar on Thursday. The incident took place when the vehicle was being driven in reverse. The driver has been arrested, said a senior police official.