12-year-old girl killed as DTC runs over scooter in east Delhi
A Class 8 student’s trip to attend Independence Day celebrations at her school turned fatal when a DTC electric bus, allegedly driving in the wrong lane, hit the scooter she was riding with her uncle in the New Ashok Nagar area on Friday, police said.
Following the incident, angry locals pelted stones at the bus, damaging its front windshield and windows.
Police said they controlled the situation from escalating and arrested the bus driver, who had fled after the accident. The girl, identified as a 12-year-old Kayna Pal, was on her way to school for an Independence Day programme when the accident took place around 8 am on Dallupura Road.
According to police, she was travelling on a scooter with her uncle when the DTC bus hit them, causing her to fall and suffer fatal injuries. Her inconsolable father, Aman Pal, was seen waiting outside the mortuary as the body was taken for a postmortem.
He said, “My younger brother was taking her to school for the programme when the bus came from the wrong side and struck their scooter. The impact threw the child onto the road, following which her head came under the wheels of the bus.”
Police said the girl died on the spot, and they shifted the body to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital for medico-legal proceedings.
The deceased’s other uncle, Virender Singh, said the girl died on the spot, and her uncle received injuries, but he is out of danger and was fit to give his statement to police.
Her grandfather, Dharam Singh, said the girl had left home for the school’s August 15 programme.
He described her as a bright student and said the family was now waiting for the postmortem process to be completed before taking her body home.
“The journey to school turned into an unimaginable tragedy. Kayna had left home expecting to attend an Independence Day programme, but within minutes, her family was rushing to the accident site and hospital,” said a resident.
Eyewitnesses and residents alleged that the driver fled the spot after the collision while several passengers were still inside the bus. The accident left residents enraged, with some throwing stones at the bus.
Police said they are also probing the stone-pelting incident.
They said the DTC bus driver, identified as 45-year-old S K Murad, initially fled the scene out of fear but was subsequently apprehended.
A police officer said an investigation was underway to ascertain the circumstances that led to the fatal collision.
