PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Haldwani
In the second major road accident in this area in a span of 10 days, four youth died after being run over by an SUV on the Teenpani flyover late on Saturday night. Earlier, two youth were killed in a road accident in this area on July 2.
According to eyewitnesses, the four youth had come on two-wheelers and were standing on the roadside on the flyover. A Scorpio being driven from the direction of Bareilly hit the youth at about 10 PM. The four youth were seriously injured in the mishap. While three of them died before reaching the hospital, the fourth died later during treatment in the hospital. The four youth killed in the mishap have been identified as Rahul Rajput, Shivam, Anshu Arya and Adi Tamta. The family members of the deceased reached the mortuary of the Sushila Tiwari hospital here on Sunday morning. The police circle officer (City) Amit Saini informed that the Scorpio driver is being questioned and the incident is being investigated in detail to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. The city magistrate AP Vajpayee also reached the hospital and the site of the accident.
The regional transport officer (Enforcement) Arvind Pandey said that after the earlier accident on July 2 at this site, the Transport department and National Highways Authority of India had surveyed the site and prepared a detailed report. The report had recommended construction of two underpasses, incorporating a rumble strip, ensuring adequate street lights and implementing other road safety measures. It is very unfortunate that another major accident took place before the road safety measures could be implemented, he said. A joint inspection of the site by the department, police and NHAI is being conducted after the latest accident. The focus will be on resolving any gaps which emerge in the inspection to prevent such accidents in the future, Pande said.
Meanwhile, locals said that two major accidents in 10 days at the site have raised questions about safety measures. The latest accident could have been prevented if the safety measures recommended in the past had been implemented without delay, they said.
