Maharashtra truck falls off flyover, driver dies

NEW DELHI: A truck laden with vegetables fell off a flyover near Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium during early hours on Saturday. The driver died while his two helpers were critically injured in the incident.
Police said that the incident was reported to them at 4.55am. The truck was going on the Ring Road bypass flyover when it suddenly lost control. A preliminary probe revealed that it was coming from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and was laden with a consignment of capsicums that was to be delivered to Azadpur wholesale market.
The deceased driver, Jallaluddin (45), was accompanied by two helpers – Sarukh and Wazid, who are under observation in hospital.The trio started their journey from Maharashtra on Friday morning and were taking turns to drive with the aim to deliver the consignment by 2am on Saturday. Due to this, they were driving without taking any break.
However, they got stuck in traffic jams during the way. Police said that the men were then in a hurry to reach their destination and Jallaluddin allegedly started driving rashly.
As the vehicle reached the flyover, the vehicle failed to take the turn swiftly and lost control. It broke the side barrier and fell down from the flyover — from approximately a height of 20ft — on the road below. Luckily, no other vehicle was passing from below at that moment.
Passersby alerted police and a team of patrolling cops reached the spot. Additional teams were also called in and the injured men could be pulled out of the vehicle only with the help of gas-cutters.
All three — residents of Mewat — were taken to a nearby hospital where Jallaluddin was declared dead on arrival. Sarukh and Wazid were still in critical condition. The deceased is survived by his wife and four children. He was working with a Rajasthan-based transporter.
Investigating officers are scanning CCTV footage of the spot to ascertain the sequence of events. It is also being probed whether the driver was under the influence of any intoxicant that may have led to the accident or whether he fell asleep while driving. The teams are waiting to get more information from the injured persons after they are in a condition to give statements.
The truck was removed from the road with the help of cranes.