Iron sheet falls off truck on NH-24, woman crushed to death

GHAZIABAD: A 35-year-old woman riding pillion on a motorcycle was killed on Sunday night allegedly after being crushed under a roll of iron sheet that fell on her from a trailer truck near Lal Quan flyover on NH-24 in Ghaziabad. The accident took place at around 11.30 pm on a stretch in Kavi Nagar police station area.Witnesses have told police that the trailer truck lost balance after driving into a pothole on the road that resulted in the roll of iron sheet tumbling out of it. On the basis of a complaint, an FIR has been registered against the unidentified truck driver as well as National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the public works department (PWD).The woman has been identified as Sonia (35), who was returning to her home in Ambedkar Nagar, Indergarhi, with her husband, Raj Kishore (37), a compounder in a private clinic in Ghaziabad, from a marriage function in Dujana. Raj Kishore’s younger brother, Atar Singh, was following the two a short distance in another bike along GT Road from the direction of Greater Noida towards Ghaziabad.“We passed underneath the flyover along GT Road and took the slip road on the right to ascend NH-24 in the direction of Dasna. The trailer truck was driving from the direction of UP Gate towards Dasna along NH-24. After crossing the flyover, the truck took the slip road to its left and made a U-turn to descend to GT Road,” Atar Singh told TOI.Vehicles taking the U-turn from the flyover merge with traffic travelling along the slip road to ascend NH-24.“When we reached a point on the road where the U-turn meets the slip road, a huge roll of iron sheet fell off the truck after it drove into a pothole. It seems the roll had not been tied to the truck with the help of safety chains. The roll fell on Sonia, knocking her off the bike and she got crushed under it. Her body could be retrieved only after a crane was called to lift the roll,” said Atar Singh.According to police, Sonia was dead before the roll could be lifted. The truck, bearing a Haryana registration number, was seized while its driver fled.The FIR has been registered in Kavi Nagar police station under sections 304A (causing death due to negligence) and 279 (rash driving) of IPC. “We have found a clear case of negligence by the construction agencies that led to the accident. The place was not well lit either, and the stretch is in a dilapidated state. The accident could have been avoided if the stretch had been well-maintained,” Kavi Nagar circle officer Atish Singh said.Construction agencies passed the buck on each other while agreeing that it is a poor case of road engineering where vehicles in both directions meet with each other on a slope along the highway.“At present it is not clear as to which agency has jurisdiction over the slip road,” NHAI project director RP Singh said.According to PWD, the slip road belongs to the NHAI. “Any slip road built along a highway to accommodate traffic to descend or ascend a highway is under the jurisdiction of NHAI. The NHAI is also undertaking construction work on the flyover at present,” executive engineer, PWD, Maneesh Verma said.