In a tragic incident, a cluster bus mowed down two persons and injured five others after its driver suffered a fatal heart attack in Central Delhi’s Kotwali area on Friday around 2.45 pm. As the driver, Wazid Ali, lay dead, the bus on route number 419 ended up hitting a mini-truck and a three-wheeler near the Kotwali police station and then hitting five people.
The other two deceased were identified as Keshav (45), a loader, and Suraj (21), a street vendor.
The driver’s body was lying on steering of the bus and his leg was on its accelerator when the bus came to halt, said police. According to eyewitnesses, the bus accelerated suddenly after hitting two persons who were crossing the road. One died on the spot. The other person and the driver were declared dead when rushed to hospital.
The bus then rammed into an auto rickshaw, parked at the roadside, and came to halt after hitting two cars, a mini-truck and a rickshaw, dragging these vehicles for 200 metres.
During the chaos, two more persons were trapped under the wheels of the bus.
“Policemen rushed to the spot. With the help of a jack, the two were taken out. Their legs were completely damaged,” eyewitness Sanjay (40), who live in the same area, told The Pioneer. Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai has ordered an enquiry into the incident and set up a four-member committee to be headed by Deputy Transport Commissioner (Operation) Yogesh Pratap Singh.
“The members of the committee inspected the spot where the incident took place and have submitted its preliminary report. The committee has also been asked to submit its final report within 72 hours,” said a senior Government official.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Madur Verma told The Pioneer that five injured people are recuperating in lNJP and Sushruta Trauma Centre hospitals. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the driver had a cardiac arrest while he was on wheels, which led the accident. However, no conclusions can be drawn unless the post-mortem report is obtained,” Verma added.
The Delhi Police has recovered CCTV footages from the spot showing the cluster bus ramming the vehicles.
After the accident the road was closed for three hours which led to a huge traffic jam in Central Delhi.