GREATER NOIDA: A long drive to Agra in a brand new Ford Endeavour after night shift in office turned fatal for four employees of an IT firm after the
SUV
, travelling at more than 100kmph, toppled over a carriageway of the
Yamuna Expressway and fell 30ft to the ground on Sunday morning.
Police said the SUV had nine occupants in total — all employees of Terasys IT Solutions in Noida. While the four died on the spot, the five others are battling critical injuries in Kailash and Yatharth hospitals. Although the medical reports are awaited, police said statements by the survivors suggested they had partied after night shift and had liquor before deciding to go on the drive to Agra. The director of the company, Ashis Sood, had brought the Endeavour a few days ago and had asked his colleagues out for the drive.
The
accident occurred around 9.30am near Zero Point when the nine were on their way back to Noida. “A passerby called us around 9.50am to inform about the accident. The
car
had smashed the grille of the carriageway and hit the railing of the flyover below before falling to the ground. We rushed the occupants to Kailash and Yatharth hospitals, where four were declared dead on arrival while the others were admitted with critical injuries,” said Arvind Pathak, the station house officer of Knowledge Park police station.
The deceased were identified as Naveen (32), a resident of Meerut, Chandra Mohan Yadav (26), from Mayur Vihar Phase 3, Shiv Vijay (33), a resident of Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sheila, a Noida local. Those admitted in hospital are Sushmita (22), from Laxmi Nagar, Saleem (20), from Maujpur in Delhi, Abhishek Tyagi (25), a resident of Ghaziabad, Nancy (25), who is from Noida, and the car owner, Ashis Sood (34), who is from Shimla.
Saleem, one of the survivors, told TOI that Abhishek, a manager at Terasys, was driving the SUV when it crashed into the iron grille. “I was on the back seat when the collision occurred. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. All I remember is that the car was at high speed when it hit the grille. I lost consciousness and woke up only in hospital,” said Saleem, who had joined the company three months ago as a sales executive. According to police, the Endeavour was well over 100kmph when the accident occurred.
Chandra Mohan’s wife Anusha said he had called her around 8am to inform about the drive to Agra and told her he would be back in an hour. “I was worried when he did not return till 11am. Police called up and informed me about the accident,” said Anusha.
Officials at Kailash and Yatharth hospitals said Sushmita, Saleem and Ashis were out of danger, but Abhishek and Nancy were critical. “Abhishek has major chest and head injuries along with a muscle tear in the abdomen. He is on life support. Nancy has serious internal injuries, she is semi-conscious and drowsy. She will be kept in the ICU for the next few days,” said a spokesperson for Kailash Hospital. He added that Ashis was stable but could lose the middle finger of his right hand.
Other employees of Terasys reached the hospitals after coming to know about the accident. Arjun, one of the executives, said he was in the evening shift and had left office at night. “People were talking about the director’s new car. They probably left for the drive after finishing work early in the morning. A pall of gloom has descended on the office,” he said.
Police are awaiting a written complaint to lodge a case.
“They were likely under the influence of alcohol. However, we are yet to verify the medical reports,” said Tanu Upadhyay, circle officer 1 in Greater Noida.
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