Truck hits parked auto, 2 killed in Mumb

An outing of three friends at Deonar on Wednesday ended in a tragedy. Two of them were killed in an accident in the Nimonia Baug locality near Deonar bridge.

Sabid Khan, 22, and Ansar Nawab, 20, from Gautam Nagar at Deonar, decided to spend some time together. They asked their 15-year-old friend Saif Ali, a BMC school student, to join them for lunch at Ganesh Tiffin House.

After lunch, the three strolled near the Deonar bridge and sat in a parked autorickshaw. After chatting for a while, the youth asked Ali to buy some eatables. Within minutes of Ali leaving, a cement mixer truck coming from Chembur lost control, came hurtling and hit the autorickshaw in which Khan and Nawab were sitting. The truck then crashed into an autocarrier and a motorbike before hitting a closed shop. The driver left the vehicle and ran away, fearing being beaten by locals.

Locals rushed Khan and Nawab to Shatabdi Hospital where they were declared dead before admission. The two had suffered grievous injuries, leading to their death.

Nawab was a college student and Khan used to help his father in his business. 

The truck driver, Omprakash Pal, 45, surrendered at the Deonar police station in the evening. “The police have booked him for rash driving and negligence causing death. He will be produced in court on Thursday,” said police inspector S Thakre.

Abdul Shaikh, a shopkeeper, said he was lucky that the truck barely missed his shop.

“I was in my shop when I heard a crash. I ran out to see that the huge cement mixer truck had crashed into the Anchal Tours and Travels shop a short distance away,” he said.

Locals say this was not the first time an accident has occurred on this spot. “Instances of speeding vehicles hitting pedestrians have occurred but this time it has caused death. The traffic police need to take strict measures to stop vehicles speeding down the Deonar bridge,” said a resident.