Two men were killed and 23 others injured after a private sleeper bus travelling from Jaipur overturned in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh in the early hours of Wednesday.
The bus, carrying around 30 passengers, flipped onto its side while attempting to navigate the roundabout near Hanuman Mandir at high speed, according to eyewitnesses and passengers.
Police officials said they received a call at 1.05am reporting that the bus had overturned. “The vehicle, a Jaipur-Delhi tourist sleeper with a capacity of about 70, had been headed towards Fatehpuri in Sadar Bazar when it flipped, leaving several passengers injured,” said deputy commissioner of police (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh.
Staff from Karol Bagh police station were among the first to arrive at the scene, DCP Singh said. “Finding passengers trapped inside the mangled vehicle, a constable stopped a passing excavator machine.
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With assistance from locals, the team lifted and stabilised the bus using roadside cement blocks before beginning the rescue,” he said. Preliminary probe suggest that the bus was travelling along Vande Mataram Marg through the Delhi Ridge, according to an officer aware of the case details. When it reached Hanuman Chowk, the driver attempted to take the turn at excessive speed, hit an electricity pole, and lost control, causing the vehicle to topple onto its side.
About 10 injured passengers were first evacuated and rushed to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Another 12 were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where two men were declared dead. One additional injured passenger was taken to Lady Hardinge Medical College. The deceased were identified as Shehbaj Alam, 30, a resident of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, and Mahesh Kumar, 23, from Bareilly, UP.
Passengers on board alleged that the driver had been speeding throughout the journey from Jaipur, despite repeated pleas from them to slow down.
Mohammed Mehtab, 29, who was travelling with his wife and three children after visiting his parents in Jaipur, said, “The driver was speeding throughout the journey. The bus even broke down twice. A few times, some passengers asked him to drive slow, but he didn’t.”
Police said the medical examination of the driver revealed that he wasn’t drunk at the time of the incident. The driver, identified as Pankaj Kumar, 26, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan, sustained injuries in the crash and is currently undergoing treatment at RML Hospital. Police have registered a case against him under Sections 281 (rash driving), 125A (acts endangering lives), and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. He will be formally arrested after being discharged from the hospital, an investigator said.