New Delhi: A 65-year-old tourist was on Monday killed after a rented Thar SUV crashed with his car at a crossroad junction in Assagao in north Goa, police said.
The victim has been identified as Bhagat Sharma who lived in Bhopal. He was on a visit to Goa for a holiday. He was driving a Hyundai i20. The Thar was allegedly being driven at high speed by a group of young tourists and it rammed into his vehicle. The impact left him very injured.
Eyewitness account of the crash
A local man named Myron Fernandes saw the accident. He said the SUV was speeding when it struck the white hatchback. “There was a woman driving the Thar. The vehicle was speeding and it crashed into the white hatchback. I helped the victims from the vehicle. There was an elderly man who was very injured, especially on the head and skull. The other occupant was injured too, but the baby was fine,” Fernandes said.
Sharma was travelling with a woman and a five-year-old child. Both survived the crash. The child escaped without injuries. Fernandes said Sharma became conscious after the collision but had serious injuries in his head.
Delay in emergency response
The eyewitness said it took more than an hour for the emergency response ambulance service to arrive to incident spot. The injured were later taken to a hospital in a private ambulance “After about an hour they were taken to hospital in a private ambulance, and about 15 minutes after they left, the government ambulance arrived,” Fernandes said.
Alleged attempt to switch seats
Fernandes also said the woman who was driving the Thar shifted to the passenger seat soon after the crash. “The male member of the group went and sat in the driver’s seat following the crash,” he said and also claimed he tried to avoid responsibility.
According the police, a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver of the rented jeep has been registered.
“The Police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver of the rented jeep. The vehicle has been seized, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the collision,” a police officer, who declined to be named, said.
Further investigation is ongoing.