Three minor boys — aged 12, 15 and 16 — were killed on the National Highway-9 stretch in Ghaziabad on Tuesday night after their speeding motorbike rammed into a stationary truck, police said on Wednesday, adding that the boys were not wearing helmets and were out on a joyride.
According to police, the incident took place near the IPEM College crossing area, Vijay Nagar on the Delhi-Ghaziabad carriageway. The bike ploughed into the truck as they reached the highway stretch near Vijay Nagar and all three of them died on the spot, police said.
The truck, wrongly parked on the road, has been seized and the driver has fled, said Ritesh Tripathi, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) (Kotwali/Vijay Nagar circle). “The minors’ bodies were sent for autopsy,” he added.
Shashi Chaudhary, station house officer (Vijay Nagar police station), said “We have also traced the truck owner. The driver will be arrested soon. The families are busy with autopsy and last rites, and a formal complaint is awaited.”
All three victims were residents of the nearby Shanti Nagar locality, near Crossings Republik, living around 250m from the highway.
On Tuesday night, according to police and family, the oldest boy, sked to take his father’s bike out for a ride, and took his friends along, promising to return soon. Their family said they were trying to overtake some vehicle when the accident took place.
Police confirmed that the boys were riding triple.
Nitin Kumar, maternal uncle of the 15-year-old-boy, told HT, “On Tuesday, around 10 pm the father of the 16-year-old boy had returned from his office and asked his son to park the bike inside. The boy told him that he wished to take out the bike for a short ride and would return soon. He planned a short ride with his two friends, and just went towards the highway.”
However, when the boys did not return by 11:30 pm, neighbours told HT, that their families and neighbours began looking for them.
Neighbour Ajay Dagar said, “For a short, fun ride, they went to the nearby highway. When they did not return, we started to search, and around 11:30 pm some locals informed us that there was some accident on the highway.”
He added that when they rushed to the spot, they learnt who the victims were. “They had died on the spot and were declared dead when taken to a hospital. The bike also got damaged as a result of the impact. The 16-year-old was driving the bike, and other two were riding pillion.”
Kumar said that the biked was at speed and the boys were trying to overtake another vehicle. “We came to know about the sequence of events from locals who we found on the spot after the incident. There was blood all around. We will lodge a police complaint once the autopsy and last rites are complete.”
Dagar further said, “Police are trying to get the CCTV footage installed on the highway, and the footage will bring to light exactly how the incident happened.”
The SHO said, “We have not accessed the CCTV as yet to get exact details, but the speeding bike crashed in the rear of the stationary truck on the highway.”
According to official traffic police data, there have been 328 road fatalities and 712 injuries in the Ghaziabad district between January 1 to October 31 this year. In the same period in 2024, 2023 and 2022, there were 319, 301, and 306 road fatalities, respectively. At least 647, 599, and 519 were injured in 2024, 2023, and 2022 in that same period.
The data further showed there were 913 accidents in that period this year, while 841, 828, and 720 accidents took place in 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.