New Delhi, Nov 5 (PTI) Sunil Kumar was sipping tea near the Monastery Market when he saw an out-of-control bus darting at him at very high speed. He dropped the cup and dashed towards the market as the bus whooshed past him, collided with a billboard and climbed onto a road divider before coming to a halt.
Just moments ago, Kumar was standing near the billboard pole. Now, it lay on the road after the bus crash.
Two people, including a Delhi Police constable, were killed in the accident that happened on Ring Road on Monday night.
Kumar told PTI that he was traumatised by the incident and it kept him up all night. “I couldn’t sleep. The scene kept replaying in my mind. If I hadn’t run, I might have been killed like others.” Another survivor, Binod Singh, said he was waiting for his friend near his shop when he saw the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus approaching at high speed.
He too ran towards the market, saved just in the nick of time. “My heart was racing. It felt like I had narrowly escaped death.” When he returned to the scene, Singh said he saw two people lying there, covered in blood.
People in the area are left shaken by the incident.
“We were closing our shops when we heard a loud noise and the sound of skidding tyres. At first, I thought it could be a normal accident, but when we reached the spot we saw blood everywhere,” a shopkeeper said. “The scene is still haunting many of us.” Another eyewitness said the constable who was mowed down was riding his motorcycle when he was hit from behind, while the pedestrian who died was holding shopping bags.
They were both very young, he said.
Delhi Police Constable Victor (27), a resident of Nagaland, and another engineering student Satyapriya (23), a resident of Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, were killed in the incident.
Crossing roads in the area is a constant challenge due to reckless driving, said Dargil, president of the Monastery Market.
“Many people drive very rashly here, and this is not the first time such an incident has occurred,” he said. He added that he had repeatedly urged local authorities to take action to improve safety in the area.
“If they build a flyover, all the big vehicles will pass above, and this road will become safer,” he said.
Udharka Yadav, an auto driver who regularly passes through the area, said it was only a matter of time before a similar incident happened again.
“The market area is very crowded, and traffic jams make it even more dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before something like this happens again,” he said. PTI SHB NIT ARD SKY SKY
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