Overspeeding tractor trolley rolls over in Sohna, three crushed to death

Three people were crushed to death, while another was critically injured, after a tractor trolley loaded with concrete pillars rolled over at Sancholi village in Sohna, police said on Thursday, adding that the tractor driver was arrested.

Police said that the accident took place at about 3.30pm on Tuesday. They said that three labourers were sitting on top of the heavy pillars loaded on the tractor’s trolley while another worker was sitting next to the driver. All four labourers originally hailed from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.

Police said that the driver negotiated a turn at a high speed which caused the trolley to roll over. The three workers in the trolley were thrown to the ground with the pillars falling on them. Police added that the driver, who escaped unhurt, fled the spot while the worker who sat next to him was injured.

Investigators said that locals nearby heard the commotion and rushed to the spot. They pulled the three labourers from underneath the pillars who were severely injured.

Two of the workers – Dinesh Kumar and Kanhaiya Singh – were rushed to the government hospital in Sohna but doctors declared them dead, police said. Kanhaiya Lal, the third worker was taken to the government hospital at Nalhar in Nuh, but he also succumbed to the injuries.

According to the police, the fourth injured worker, identified as Dhanna Lal, fell in a ditch after being thrown off the vehicle. Despite his injuries, he managed to rush towards the three others and was the one to alert the villagers after the accident. He suffered fractures on both his legs and was receiving treatment at PGI Rohtak.

Inspector Santosh Kumar, station house officer of Sadar Sohna, said that the tractor driver Bintu Yadav, 29, who belongs to Sancholi, was arrested from his village on Wednesday night.

“Speeding was the only cause of the accident,” he said.

On complaint of a villager Parveen Bhardwaj, who was among the rescuers, an FIR was registered against the driver under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on public way), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code at Sadar Sohna police station on Wednesday, said police.