Civic body dumper hits car, 5 of family die: Police

Five members of a family died and four others were injured after their car was hit allegedly by an East Delhi Municipal Corporation dumper in Kalyanpuri early today, police said.

The accident happened around 3 am on NH 24 when the nine people were on their way to Meerut from the airport here in an Innova, they added.

An EDMC official said the dumper wasn't an official vehicle of the civic body.

The impact of the accident was such that the SUV was completely mangled. Five of them were declared "brought dead" to the hospital while four others were injured, police said.

The deceased were identified as Kamar Abbas Zaidi (55), his wife Anjum Fatima Zaidi (50), son Azhar and daughter Juhi (14), and the driver of the SUV Mairajuddin (36).

The injured people were admitted to the GTB Hospital.

They have been identified as Anjum Fatima Zaidi (35) and her son Ali Mohd Zaidi (13). Anjum has a contusion in her head.

Kamar Abbas' son Abbass Mehndi Zaidi (16) was also injured in the accident but is out of danger, police said.

Sukena (7), who is related to the family, was also in the car and she escaped with minor injuries.

Kamar Abbas lived with his family in Meerut and had gone to Delhi to receive his sister-in-law Fatima Zaidi (35) and her son at the airport, who had arrived from Iran after a trip. Fatima's (35) husband is a newsreader in Iran.

The driver of the dumper lost control over the vehicle as it hit the SUV on the other side of the road breaking the iron railing on the divider, a senior police officer said.

The SUV somersaulted at least thrice before coming to a halt while the dumper also overturned.

The driver fled leaving behind the dumper that has a Haryana registration number. During investigation, it was found that the truck belongs to the EDMC, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh.

It was returning from Ghazipur landfill site, the police said.

A senior official of the EDMC, when contacted, however, said, "The dumper wasn't an official vehicle of the civic body."

"It could have been hired by a contractor, but as of now, it is not even clear, if it was our (EDMC's) vehicle or some other agency's," he said.

Either the driver was driving rashly or he fell asleep at the wheel which led to the accident, the DCP said.

Gas cutters were used to cut the car open and its occupants were pulled out. Five of them had already died, police said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)