Bihar teen, mother killed as car plunges into ditch on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

Indore: A 14-year-old girl and her mother died, and three members of her family were injured after their car fell nearly 20 feet into a roadside ditch on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Ratlam district early Sunday morning.

The family was travelling from Bihar to Surat when the accident occurred around 5 am. The deceased were identified as Deepa Kumari, daughter of Vicky Kumar (35), a resident of Khajuria Bathami village in Bihar’s Gopalganj district and her mother Rani Devi. Vicky and his two sons, Pritam (5) and Piyush (7), were injured in the accident and admitted to medical college hospital for treatment.

ASP Ratlam, Vivek Pal, said that the minor died on the spot whereas her mother succumbed to injuries at the hospital on Sunday evening.

According to police, the family had left Bihar on Friday evening. On Saturday night, they parked their car along the roadside near a culvert close to Dhamnod toll plaza on the expressway and slept there. They resumed their journey around 4.30 am on Sunday. About 25 minutes later, the vehicle lost control and crashed.

As per the preliminary information, the accident took place while a truck was overtaking the car. In an attempt to avoid collision, the driver moved the vehicle towards the side of the road, lost control and hit the divider. The car then broke through the railing and fell into the ditch, overturning in the process.

Vicky told police that he was driving at a speed of around 80-90 kmph when a truck overtook the vehicle. The exact sequence of events was being investigated.

The family remained trapped inside the overturned vehicle for some time after the crash. Vicky said he managed to break open the car door and pull out his daughter, who had suffered a severe head injury and was unconscious. He then rescued his wife and two sons.

Vicky also claimed that passersby initially did not come forward to help despite his repeated pleas. According to him, some people later alerted emergency services, following which an ambulance reached the spot and shifted the injured to hospital.

Police and rescue teams later removed the damaged vehicle from the ditch. The deaths were recorded and bodies will be handed over to the family after autopsy.