Hit by car from behind, van skids off DME, girl (13) dies

Ghaziabad: A 13-year-old girl died and eight of her family members were injured, some of them grievously, as their Eeco overturned and skidded off the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on a farm along the speedway after it was hit by a speeding Verna near the Hawa Hawai restaurant on Thursday.
DCP (rural) Vivek Yadav said passersby alerted cops soon after the accident around 4.45pm.The injured were taken to a nearby hospital but the child, Riya Shah, died during treatment.
The girl’s mother Hetal, nine-year-old brother Parth, uncle Hitendra Solanki, aunt Urvashi and four-year-old cousin Himanshi are battling for their lives.
“There were five minors in the car, the youngest of them barely 18 months old. So far, we know that the family was from Gujarat’s Rajkot and was returning home after a trip to Haridwar. Hitendra was at the wheel when the Verna hit it from behind,” the DCP said.
The girl’s father, Rahul Shah, who was also in the car, told police that they were driving at an average speed of 65-70 kmph at the time of the incident.
Police said there were two persons in the Verna. “They stepped out after the crash and checked on the victims but fled soon after leaving the badly damaged car behind. It seems the driver was distracted after seeing the aeroplane restaurant,” the DCP said.
According to cops, the Verna is registered in the name of Sapna (only single name), a resident of Gurgaon. Two teams are checking CCTV footage from the expressway to ascertain the identity of the people who were in the car at the time of the accident and arrest them, the DCP added.
An FIR was registered against unknown persons under IPC sections 304A (death due to negligence) and 279 (rash driving).
Between Jan and April this year, seven accidents were reported on the DME — which is used by lakhs of vehicles daily.