Gurgaon: A pickup van carrying pilgrims from Mainpuri rammed a truck parked illegally beside a liquor shop on KMP Expressway in Palwal early on Tuesday, leaving six persons dead and 14 injured. Police suspect the van driver may have dozed off after hours at the wheel.Leaving a vehicle stationary on an expressway or highway is illegal except at designated places. Yet, the truck was left by the roadside near the liquor shop, leaving the pilgrims’ van to encounter the stationary obstacle in the early hours when both visibility and alertness were reduced.The pilgrims had left their villages in Mainpuri on Aug 28 for a religious tour during Rakshabandhan. A group of more than 40 travelled in two vehicles. After visiting Khatu Shyam, Salasar Balaji and other religious sites in Rajasthan, they reached Gogamedi temple on Monday evening and planned to continue to Mathura and Vrindavan.But passengers in the two vehicles took different decisions. “While pilgrims in one of the two vehicles decided not to travel ahead at night, the other vehicle left from there at 9pm as they wanted to reach Mathura temples at the earliest,” said Arvind Pal, who arranged the Tata pickup.That decision proved fatal. Around 4.30am, while passing through Palwal, the pickup van slammed into the parked truck. The impact crushed both vehicles, trapping several passengers inside. Passersby rushed to help. One passenger sitting beside the driver was left with his neck stuck in the mangled vehicle. Rescuers had to cut through the bodywork to pull him out.Police took the injured to Civil Hospital in Palwal, where six were declared dead on arrival. Those who died were Vijay Singh (75), Rajkumar (40), Reshma (45), Kamla (65), Sudha (52) and Mahesh (60).The van, police said, had also been modified with iron rods and mesh to create an additional upper section, effectively making it a two-level vehicle. In the collision, passengers in the lower rear section were thrown over one another, while those on the upper level fell.Vineet Yadav, who reached the spot after hearing about the crash, lost six relatives and neighbours, including his father Vijay, brother-in-law Rajkumar, Kamla, Reshma, paternal aunt Sudha and neighbour Mahesh.Umesh Singh, an injured passenger, said, “I woke up with a jolt after falling on others sleeping in the vehicle. The impact was so severe that six persons died and many others were injured. Our driver fled without checking on us.”Both the van and truck drivers fled. Police said they were scanning footage from cameras to trace the drivers. The bodies were sent for autopsy.Hari Kishan, SHO of Sadar Palwal police station, said a case was registered under BNS sections 285 for a negligent act causing danger or injury on a public road, 106 for causing death by negligence, 125 for causing hurt by a rash or negligent act and 324(4) for mischief causing property loss. “We will soon trace the truck driver as his vehicle was wrongly parked on the expressway, which led to the fatal crash. The van driver would be traced too,” he added.
