NEW DELHI: In a dire tragedy that re-emphasized the way Delhi’s streets turn into death traps at night, a married couple were killed when a dump truck and their i20 car overturned near the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Ringstrasse on Wednesday around midnight crushed. Her six-year-old daughter had a miraculous escape and was rescued by police officers and firefighters.
Manish Sharma, 37, a senior legal advisor at a private company, and his wife Shipra, 33, returned to Noida after visiting relatives in Bhiwani, Haryana.
They celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on Tuesday. According to the police, the dump truck was transporting gravel for the Central Vista project.
Fatal crash: Tipper overturned while trying to make way for another car
The driver of the dump truck, Arvind Yadav (25), was trying to avoid a speeding car when it accidentally rammed the bulkhead. The impact was so great that the dumper overturned and fell on the i20 car. The driver’s cab caught fire too. Yadav was arrested Thursday evening.
When the police responded to a call about a burning vehicle and reached the place – the lane for traffic towards AIIMS from Dhaula – they found the family trapped in the car. DCP, Southwest District, Gaurav Sharma, was there with his men and the fire brigade arrived shortly afterwards, but the heavy tipper could not be removed.
“The couple’s six-year-old daughter, Mishika, was lying in the back seat with her feet clamped in place,” recalls Sharma. “Manish was completely squeezed under the truck and couldn’t move, and his wife Shipra was also trapped. Her daughter was conscious and kept asking about her mother. Since the back was difficult to access, we tried to create space. We couldn’t see the condition of her legs, but to make sure her feet weren’t crushed, we put some logs in them “.
It took the police around an hour and a half to rescue the child and around two and a half hours to get the couple out. In the meantime, the team also tried to remove the building materials to reduce the stress on the car.
Police later organized a hydraulic crane that stopped traffic for a while. All three were transferred to AIIMS, where the couple was pronounced dead while their daughter was treated for her injuries and later released. She was given to her grandparents.
A case of rash and negligent driving resulting in death was registered against the driver.
The couple’s family members said they received information about the accident around 3 a.m. after a local person picked up the phone, which apparently belonged 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 say to her daughter. Manish was a well-read guy and loved books, a very bright person. The police have to investigate what caused the dump truck to tip over. ”
