Six traffic wardens narrowly escape death

Alert marshals jump out of harm's way as speeding car crashes into stationary SUV that further collides into truck at Metro construction site

Six traffic marshals had a close shave with death yesterday at the Metro Railway construction site opposite Kokilaben Hospital in Andheri (West) when a speeding car rammed into an SUV that further collided into a trailer carrying a girder for the metro site.


The wreckage of the car that rammed into the Qualis

According to Paresh Ingale, an eyewitness, the accident took place in the wee hours of Thursday. "A trailer carrying the Metro girder was parked 100 m away from the Four Bungalows junction.

Traffic wardens were standing there with red indicator batons asking vehicles to take a diversion, when all of a sudden a white car came speeding towards the wardens.
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Instead of clamping down on the brakes, the driver sped towards them and almost ran over the wardens. Luckily, they jumped out of the way and the car rammed into the Qualis that then rammed into the trailer."

A marshal on condition of anonymity said, "We are very thankful to God. The car was moving towards us so quickly that we didn't even realise that it had almost reached us. We were sitting ducks and would have died if we hadn't moved quickly."

Soon after the incident, the police reached the accident spot and took the driver of the car, who was later identified as Manikaran Singh and other injured to nearby Kokilaben Hospital.
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Confirming the incident, an official from Versova police station said, "The incident of a car ramming into a Qualis took place opposite Kokilaben Hospital in the wee hours of Thursday after the driver lost control over the car. He has been admitted to Kokilaben Hospital."

Meanwhile, another eyewitness to the incident told MiD DAY that he suspected the driver of the car to be under the influence of alcohol.
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"In normal circumstances, a man sees diversions and moves accordingly, but in this case, the man behind the wheel did not realise what he was doing. After the accident, he stumbled out of the car uttering 'Ghar pe mat bolo'."

A spokesperson from Kokilaben Hospital confirmed that the injured was rushed to the hospital and added that he had suffered a skull fracture.