An unwilful act by an enforcement team of the Delhi’s State Transport Authority (STA) to stop a speeding truck on the DND flyway led to a road accident in which a 30-year-old ambulance technician and a two-year-old child on way to Safdarjung hospital for treatment died after the ambulance rammed into the truck on Friday at 3.15 am.
The child’s family also inside the ambulance suffered injuries in the crash and are undergoing treatment at AIIMS Trauma Centre.
“The enforcement officials were at fault as they tried to stop the truck by standing in the middle of the road. The driver applied brakes and gave no time to the ambulance driver to react. Had enforcement officers allowed passage to the ambulance rather than blocking its path by stopping the truck, the tragedy could have been averted,” said an official.
The deceased have been identified as Subhash Pal (2) and Sunil Kumar (30), ambulance technician.
Police said the ambulance driver Vipin (25) and Subhash’s father Suresh (35), his mother Manno (32) and his four-year-old brother Shubham (4) sustained injuries.
“A police team reached the spot after a call was made to the Police Control Room (PCR) ,” said a police official.
“The injured were rushed to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where Sunil Kumar succumbed to his injuries while Subhash was declared brought dead. Suresh, his wife Manno, Shubham and Vipin sustained injuries and they were referred to the AIIMS Trauma centre where they are still undergoing treatment,” said the official.
“After the accident both the truck driver and the enforcement team fled the spot. A case has been registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mayur Vihar police station. Police teams have initiated a manhunt to nab the accused truck driver and the enforcement officers who had displayed utter callousness by trying to stop the truck which led to the crash,” said the police official.
Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer of Delhi Fire Service said that they had also received a call at about 3.40 AM regarding the incident after which two fire tenders were rushed for rescue operation.
Meanwhile the family members of Subhash also alleged that the driver of ambulance was in drowsy condition when he was driving. “I saw that the driver was in drowsy condition and I asked to stop the vehicle. He said that he was fine continued driving the vehicle,” said Suresh Pal, father of Subhash.
Subhash, who used to live at Knowledge Park in Greater Noida with his family, was admitted at the Sharda Hospital in Noida on Thursday after he complained of breathlessness.
“We were informed that there was some water in Subhash’s windpipe and doctors asked us to shift him to Safdarjung Hospital. We left the hospital around 3 am and were heading towards the Safdarjung. There was a truck driving in front of us on DND flyway and we couldn’t see anything ahead of it. After the collision, I lost consciousness and could not save my kid,” said Mannu Pal (35), Subhash’s mother.