Ghaziabad: Truck driver changing punctured tyre killed by speeding truck

A 55-year-old truck driver was killed and his 26-year-old son-in-law critically injured after a speeding truck hit them while they were changing a punctured tyre on the side of NH-9 near Masuri in Ghaziabad on Friday morning, police said.

Police said precious time was lost in rushing the injured men to hospital as most people stopped only to have a look or shoot videos and none of them tried to help them.

The incident happened around 9.30am on Friday, police said. A truck, driven by a man named Abid Ali, was headed to Pilkhuwa from Ghaziabad when it suffered a puncture near BBDIT College on NH-9, police said.

They said Ali called up his son-in-law to help him and he arrived there on a bike.

“While they were busy replacing the punctured tyre on the side of the road, a speeding truck which came that way hit both men. Their bike was crushed and the men were grievously injured. Many commuters passed by after that but no one stopped to help them. The few who stopped did so only to have a look or shoot videos. Thereafter, police reached the spot and rushed them to the hospital, where Ali was declared dead soon after. His son-in-law was referred to a higher centre for treatment,” said Siddharth Gautam, assistant commissioner of police, Masuri/Muradnagar.

A video of the incident was shared on social media later in the day and it showed a young man lying injured and in pain while an elderly man lay motionless some distance away. Police said the video appeared to have been shot by some passersby.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The ACP said the errant truck driver fled the scene soon after the accident.

“He left the truck behind and it was seized by police. The family of the deceased gave a police complaint and we registered an FIR under appropriate sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Masuri police station. The truck driver will be traced and arrested,” Gautam said.