Noida: Mad dash to admit sick child ends in death of 5 of family in accident

Tragedy struck a family after their two-year-old boy, who had a low blood count and needed urgent blood transfusion, was shuttled off from one hospital to another four times on Sunday evening, all the way from Dadri to Noida, only for five members of the family to perish in a late night accident on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

The only ones left in the family now are the sick child and his father who were at the hospital at the time of the crash.

Ten hours after the crash, the distraught father Hari Mohan discharged his son, without waiting for any further treatment. “There is no one left in the family to be with him at the hospital,” said Hari Mohan.

A day before the tragic accident, his family received a medical report stating that the child urgently needed blood transfusion to save his life.

From Dadri to Noida, the child was referred from one hospital to another four times. After travelling till late night with his family -- his cousin, mother, uncle and aunts -- Hari Mohan finally admitted the child to a Noida facility. He stayed at the hospital but requested the others to return home and take rest.

But while returning, their WagonR rammed a stationary truck near Sector 146 metro station on Expressway.

The exact reason for the accident remains unascertained as all five occupants— Hari Mohan’s cousin Aman Singh, 27, Aman Singh’s father Devi Singh, 60, mother Rajkumari Singh, 50, and two aunts Vimlesh Singh, 40, and Kamlesh Singh, 40 -- died in the crash.

Police said all the dead were residents of Kashiram Colony in Ghodi Bachheda, Dadri.

Prima facie, police suspect that Aman Singh, who was driving, might have dozed off and crashed into the truck, parked there due to a punctured tyre.

Hari Mohan said, “On Saturday night, I was on my bike with my two relatives, while the others were in Aman’s car along with my son. From Dadri to Noida, we were referred by four hospitals.”

“Around 5am, after we reached a hospital in Noida’s Sector 30, we were told that the doctor will come at around 9am, so we have to admit the child,” said Hari Mohan, adding that “I insisted Aman, my mother Vimlesh, and aunts to return home,” he said.

“Till 11am, I was unaware that my family was killed in the accident. As my son’s treatment began, I called my brother to update him about it. But I was told that all those five had died and the bodies were at the mortuary in Sector 94.”

“I did not believe it. I called my father to be with my son at the hospital and rushed to the mortuary only to find my entire family dead,” said Hari Mohan.

“As my family is devastated, we decided to discharge my son around 2.30pm on Monday after he was given one unit of blood. Doctors said they needed to give four more units,” he said.

Since then, the child’s condition has deteriorated. He continues to be feverish, said his father, adding that they now plan to continue his treatment after the final rites.

Meanwhile, police are yet to find the truck driver. “Two teams have been formed to nab him. The truck was registered in the name of a Mathura-based transporter,” said Pawan Singh, assistant commissioner of police, Greater Noida, adding that the transporter is also on the run.

A case under sections 106 (causing death by negligence), 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 324 (mischief) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against the unidentified truck driver at the Knowledge Park police station on Sunday.

Police suspect that the truck driver was returning to Mathura after unloading.

Two police constables posted at Integrated and Smart Traffic Management System (ISTMS) have been suspended for negligence since the truck remained there unnoticed by them for nearly two hours.