14 dead as dumper mows into 17 vehicles

JAIPUR

: The city's busiest industrial area was thrown into chaos and devastation as a speeding dumper truck lost control and ploughed into at least 17 vehicles on Monday afternoon, leaving 14 people dead and 13 injured.The crash occurred around 1.45pm on New Loha Mandi Road and left a trail of crushed bodies and mangled cars and bikes across a half-km stretch.CCTV footage obtained by police later showed the dumper truck moving dangerously at over 100km per hour, ramming into multiple cars and crushing motorcyclists and pedestrians in its path, dragging some over nearly 300 metres, before crashing into a trailer truck.Dumper driver Kalyan Meena, who is also among the injured and undergoing treatment, has been detained for reckless and negligent driving.

Police suspect he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. His blood samples have been sent for testing.This was the third major road accident in Rajasthan in under-24 hours, after 15 pilgrims and two others were killed in two separate collisions in Phalodi on Sunday evening.Dumper driver stepped on gas after argument with man in car President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma, among others, expressed shock and grief over the horrific crash.

The PM announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 to those injured from the PM National Relief Fund.According to DCP Hanuman Prasad Meena, about 1.5km before the crash site, the dumper driver had an altercation with a car driver near a petrol pump. "Soon after the argument, the driver stepped on the accelerator, first hitting two motorcycles around 300 metres from the pump, and then going on to hit other vehicles," Meena said.The deceased included two minor girls - identified as Bhavna Verma (5) and Bhanu (7). One of the victims is yet to be identified.The injured are undergoing treatment at the SMS Hospital. Doctors said that the condition of the wounded - Varsha Bunkar (19), Ajay Barik (55) and Danish (45) - was critical.Locals and shopkeepers in the area acted swiftly before emergency services arrived, rushing the injured to hospital in their vehicles.

Police later reached the spot and cordoned off the area as mangled vehicles, twisted metal and debris lined the road.According to eyewitnesses, the driver was nabbed and roughed up by onlookers, before police arrived and took him into custody.Eyewitnesses described the scene as horrifying. Nemi Chand, who runs a tea stall nearby, said that it was "nothing short of a massacre". "We saw people pulling out one body after another from the wreckage of the cars. Some were trapped inside, others were lying on the road. There were screams, cries for help and blood everywhere along the road," Chand said. Police have launched an investigation into the incident to figure out the exact sequence of events.