In pics: Auto crushed in Noida road accident, 2 dead, 4 injured

Two persons, including a woman IT employee, died in an accident at Sector 44 area on Thursday. The incident occurred at about 8 am when the deceased, Pragya Singh, 22, was travelling in an autorickshaw with her colleague Navita Verma, 24. The deceased was an employee of HCL. Police said she had boarded the autorickshaw from her rented accommodation at Sector 51 to reach the HCL’s office at Sector 126. The deceased hailed from Patna where his father, Shailendra Pratap Singh is an advocate at the Patna High Court.

“The accident occurred near Sector 44 police post when the school bus suddenly applied brakes, causing the auto-rickshaw to also break abruptly. However, a speeding private school bus, coming from behind, was unable to stop in time and rammed in to the auto ahead. The three-wheeler was crushed between the two buses,” said Zahir Khan, station house officer (SHO), Sector 39 police station.

Autorickshaw driver Vinod Kumar, 40, and Pragya died on the spot. Navita was critically injured. She was rushed to the Kailash hospital and is undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU). The bus that caused the accident was ferrying students of Amity International School. Driver of the bus fled from the spot after the incident. The school administration, however, maintained that the bus was hired by the parents and not by the school.

“The collision between two school buses and an auto that happened outside Amity International School, Sector-44, Noida today morning is very unfortunate and tragic. We share the concern and anxiety of the parents. However, we wish to clarify that none of the buses involved in the accident is owned by Amity. One of the private buses involved, was chosen by parents to transport their children to Amity and all our students are safe. It was totally a private bus arrangement done by the parents,” read the statement issued by Amity International School.

A number of HCL employees visited the hospital. However, they refused to comment on the issue.

Navita hails from Allahabad and was staying with Pragya at a rented accommodation

Three children of the Marigold Public School, who were sitting on the rear seat of the bus, were also injured in the accident. However, they were discharged after the primary treatment.

“I received a call about the accident when I was getting ready for the office. My son, who is a student of class 2 at the school was sitting in the bus. I rushed to the spot and took him to the hospital. The school bus had the basic first aid kit and they had done the primary treatment on the spot,” said Arvind Kumar, parent of a student who was injured in the accident.

“Driver of the private school bus, Manoj Kumar, 35, which caused the accident, is absconding. We have called the owner of the bus for investigation. A FIR was registered at Sector 39 police station against Manoj. The accused will be arrested soon,” said Khan.

Body of the deceased was sent for postmortem, reports of which are awaited. Her family was informed about the incident, police said.

“The body will be handed over to the family of the deceased once they reach,” said Khan.

Deceased Vinod was a resident of Bhangel area of Noida. He is survived with two children - Pankaj (5) and Pushpendra (4). His wife had died two years back due to some ailment. His body was sent for postmortem, police said.

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