A 50-year-old man was killed and six others were injured when a Delhi Transport Corporation bus allegedly had a brake failure and hit them in Vikaspuri area of west Delhi on Sunday morning, police said.
Kapil Dev Sharma, a labourer who lived with his family at Uttam Nagar, was riding a bicycle when he was crushed under the DTC bus at around 9.30 am on Sunday. The bus went on to hit another bicyclist and two cycle-rickshaws.
After receiving the information, police rushed to the spot and took them to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Hari Nagar. “However, Kapil was declared brought dead. He had suffered head injuries,” a police official said. Jagdish Sharma, Naresh, Sheila, Dileep, Naveen and Nitin who were injured, were discharged after first-aid treatment.
Police have arrested the errant driver, Surender Sharma, and impounded the DTC bus number 835, plying between Dhansa Border and Tilak Nagar. Surender claims he lost control due to a brake failure.
“I tried to apply the brakes and slammed the pedal four to five times, but the bus did not stop. There was a sharp turn after Vikaspuri flyover and I could not do anything,” Surender said.
The official further said a case of causing death by rash and negligent driving has been lodged against Surender at Vikaspuri police station.
“The accident cell will now conduct a mechanical inspection of the bus and investigate the matter to ascertain the exact cause of the accident,” the official added.
On the other hand, a DTC official played down Surender’s claim. “We conduct a proper mechanical check before any bus leaves the depot. We are investigating to find out the exact reason behind the accident,” the official said.
Earlier, on May 21, Vikendra Singh, a native of Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand who was working with a private company in Noida, was killed when his motorcycle was sandwiched between two DTC buses at New Ashok Nagar in east Delhi. While, Vijay Choudhary, a Srinivaspuri resident, had lost his life when a low-floor DTC bus rammed into his motorcycle near Moolchand underpass on May 19.