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New Delhi: Student dead, 17 injured in city as their school van hits tanker

The 18 children were travelling in a Maruti Omni, which comes with a capacity of either eight or five seats.

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Mangled remains of the school van in New Delhi
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A seven-year-old girl was killed and 17 other students injured when their school van rammed into a milk tanker in northwest Delhi's Kanhaiya Nagar area on Thursday morning. While three of the injured children are critical, the police have held drivers of both the van and the milk tanker.

The 18 children were travelling in a Maruti Omni, which comes with a capacity of either eight or five seats. The accident happened at a congested stretch around 7.55 am. The deceased child has been identified as Garima Chauhan (7), who studied in Standard III of Kendriya Vidyalaya. Most of the children belonged to the Wazirpur JJ Colony and were rushed to the Deep Chand Hospital, where Chauhan succumbed to her injuries.

The other children were referred to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, Sushruta Trauma Centre and Lok Nayak Hospital.

According to the police, the accident took place when the school van was taking a U-turn under the metro station, but came in line of approach of the speeding milk tanker. The two drivers could not apply the brakes in time and the tanker hit the van on its left side, forcing it to turn turtle.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Aslam Khan said, "We received a PCR call at around 6:48 am about an accident under the Kahnhaiya Nagar metro station. Eighteen school children were injured in the accident. One child died, three are critically injured, while the others are undergoing treatment. Three children are undergoing treatment at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, while other children are recuperating at the Sushtra Trauma Centre, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital. We have arrested the driver of the milk tanker, Sanjeev (38). We have booked him under violations of the Motor Vehicles Act at the Kanhaiya Nagar police station."

"The children were screaming. A lot of people rushed to the spot. A PCR call was also made and the kids were pulled out of the van. The tanker driver was speeding," a bystander told the police. Khan said that a case of rash driving and causing death due to negligence under IPC section 304A was registered against both the drivers. "CCTV footage from the area is being scanned to find out who was at fault. The matter is being probed and we are trying to find out if the drivers were under the influence of alcohol," Khan said.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased child alleged that it took them more than three hours to locate their ward. "We came to know about the accident through locals. We rushed to the spot and found that children had been taken to a hospital nearby. We also went to school but the authorities were clueless. Finally, we reached MGS Hospital in Punjabi Bagh where Garima was admitted. She died within an hour of the accident," said her father Sandeep Kumar, who works at a private company.

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