NEW DELHI: Four people installing CCTV cameras for Delhi Traffic Police were killed and two were injured when a dumper truck collided with a stationary crane and a parked autorickshaw in Sarita Vihar early Sunday morning.The deceased were identified as Umesh (23), Praveen (35), Suraj (34) and Anup (26). They were residents of Sangam Vihar and Munirka. Two others, Akash (20) and Khem Singh (40), suffered injuries and are under treatment. A seventh person on the spot, identified as Sudhir, was unhurt. The six were taken to a nearby hospital but four of them succumbed to injuries.
Dumper driver escapes, still at large
Police said that on Road No. 13 in Sarita Vihar at 3.20am, the dumper coming from Noida rammed into the crane and a parked autorickshaw while the workers were busy with the installation.Of the four deceased, Suraj worked as an HR manager in the private firm. Praveen was a technician in the same firm and Anup too was an employee. Umesh was an autorickshaw driver.Akash and Khem Singh were also working for the same company. Praveen, Anup and Akash were cousins.A response was also sought from the firm which had assigned the six to carry out the CCTV installation, but it is yet to come.The dumper driver fled and has not yet been traced. Searches are on to arrest him. The vehicle bore a Haryana registration number.A relative of Umesh alleged that there were inadequate safety measures in place for the workers installing the CCTV cameras.An inquiry has revealed that seven people were on the spot. Two workers were standing on the crane and installing the cameras, while two others were standing nearby. One person was inside an autorickshaw and another was standing beside it. The seventh person, Sudhir, was standing some distance away.According to the families of the deceased workers, the people present at the spot had seen the approaching dumper and waved to indicate that the driver must stop, but he did not heed their signal.Police also found out that 50 metres ahead of the spot, there was a fluorescent barricade placed to indicate that work was going on, but the dumper driver did not heed that either.When the dumper hit the crane, the two workers who were fixing the cameras fell down. The impact was so severe that the crane’s tyres burst. The autorickshaw too was damaged.Praveen’s brother, Brijesh, said that while the two workers were fixing the cameras, Praveen was using a laptop to monitor and adjust the cameras. The road where the accident took place was busy and heavy vehicles frequently passed through the stretch at a high speed during the night.The families of the victims learnt about the tragedy from various sources. Some of them got phone calls. Others were informed by people who visited their homes.
