A 32-year-old woman was killed, and her husband was severely injured after an out-of-control dumper truck triggered a multi-vehicle crash in Faridabad early on Wednesday morning.
The accident, which occurred at around 6am at a traffic signal intersection in Sector 21C, involved four vehicles and left three other people injured.
The deceased, Suvarna Tripathi, an IT engineer working in Noida, was on her way to the gym with her husband, Shivankur Tripathi, also an IT professional employed in Noida, when their Maruti S-Cross was crushed in the collision.
The husband’s condition continues to be serious, said police.
According to the police, a dumper truck carrying stone dust lost control and rammed a school bus, which had no students on-board at the time. The force of the impact caused the bus to spin 180 degrees before crashing into the couple’s car and a Bolero pickup truck.
The crash left four people injured, including the school bus driver, Aman Singh, 48, and the occupants of the Bolero – Mithun Kumar, 40, and Bharti Ahirwal, 36.
The driver of the errant truck fled the scene on foot and remains on the run.
“The dumper, loaded with tonnes of stone dust, was speeding and hit the school bus first. The bus, after spinning, struck the car and the Bolero. The truck then jumped the divider onto the opposite lane, and toppled onto the pickup truck,” said inspector Prehlad Singh, station house officer of Surajkund police station.
The impact crumpled the S-Cross and bent the school bus chassis, making rescue efforts difficult, police said.
“Suvarna, seated in the front passenger seat, suffered fatal head injuries and died instantly, while Shivankur was critically wounded. The truck, however, continued to barrel down the road, jumped the divider and crushed the pick-up truck,” said Singh.
Police suspect the dumper truck driver may have dozed off before the accident.
“We are investigating whether fatigue or reckless driving caused the crash. The driver’s arrest will help determine the exact reason,” said Singh.
An FIR is yet to be registered as statements from the injured victims are pending.
The accident site was cleared within two hours to restore traffic, but the wreckage at the site underscored the severity of the crash, police said.
Locals and police had pulled out the woman and her husband from the wrecked car and rushed them to a nearby private hospital in ambulances along with other injured persons.
The couple, who married two years ago, lived in Sector 22 and regularly travelled to the gym in Sector 21C. The school bus was on its way to pick up students when it was hit. The Bolero, coming from the same direction as the couple’s car, was heading toward Ankhir Chowk when it was crushed under the truck coming from the opposite direction, investigators said.
Police are now analysing CCTV camera footage and tracing the truck owner to locate the driver.