Maharashtra: Woman and grandson crushed to death by water tanker, driver escapes

The grandmother, who passed away in hospital; cops at the site of the accident. Pics/Hanit Patel

A 57-year-old woman and her four-year-old grandson were crushed to death under the wheel of a water tanker, while the driver fled from the scene in Virar West on Friday afternoon. The driver Jeet Narayan Jaiswal, a resident of Virar, is yet to be arrested by Arnala police. Local eyewitnesses told mid-day that the baby Vivaan Yadav tragically died on the spot, while his grandmother, Amravati Yadav, was in distress and fighting for survival after the accident.

However, despite her critical condition, no one stepped forward to take her to a nearby hospital. Also, the ambulance arrived at the spot after one hour.

"I was passing by the accident scene when I noticed chaos on the road. So, I stopped the vehicle and learned that a baby and a woman were trapped under the wheel of a water tanker. People told me that the accident took place nearly 30 minutes before I reached there," said Purushottam Singh, a resident of Virar.

"People kept calling an ambulance but it arrived after more than one hour, and the cops reached 40-50 minutes after the accident," said Singh.

"My grandson died on the spot and his grandmother was gasping for air and lying in a pool of blood. After the ambulance arrived, she was rushed to Sanjeevani Hospital but was declared dead on arrival," said Lal Bahadur Yadav, husband of the deceased, who runs an autorickshaw. The baby's uncle, Arun Yadav, is a solution engineer in a cement company. "We all used to live in Laljipada, Kandivli but shifted to Virar six months ago after I bought a flat here. My mother would escort my nephew from school to home and it would take hardly 10 minutes of walk," Arun told mid-day.

"As usual, on Friday, my mother went to bring my nephew from his school and they were coming back home. Both of them were walking on the footpath near our society when the water tanker driver crushed them under the wheel. The tanker was fully loaded and the child died on the spot," Arun said.

"My mother was struggling to survive but none of the onlookers pulled her out, otherwise she would have survived. In Virar, people are not even safe on the footpath," Arun added. A security guard of the society, where the accident took place, said, "One tanker was already inside the society's premises to unload water. The other tanker entered the society only after the first one drove out. I don't know how the accident took place, but the tanker driver was reversing and dragged them for a few meters before it stopped near the gate."

No MV Act in FIR

A team of Arnala police conducted panchnama at the crime spot and registered an FIR under sections 304-A, 279, 337, and 338 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). On being questioned about the absence of the MV Act inspector, Vijay Patil said, "The driver was reversing, so the MV Act will not be added to this FIR. If required, we will add a relevant section of MV Act in the charge sheet."

57
Age of the grandmother