Dehradun, Nov 16, 2024 – In the wee hours of Tuesday, six youngsters including three women died and one person was sent to a critical care unit after their high-speed car crash at ONGC Chowk in Dehradun met with a fatal accident. The only survivor of the accident, Siddhesh Agrawal, 25 is going through severe head injuries and thus unable to speak.
Who are the victims?
The victims, all aged between 19 and 24 years, belonged to Guneet Singh, Kamakshi Singhal, Navya Goyal, Rishabh Jain, Atul Agrawal, and Kunal Kukreja. This had three college students and a fresh engineering graduate. The lives of these young friends were sadly lost in an accident-which cut short their luck as they moved out at a late-night drive after a party.
What Happens?
The accident happened around 1:30 a.m. They were travelling in a multi-utility vehicle when it collided with a container truck at ONGC Chowk. According to the CCTV footage, the MUV was moving at a speed of over 100 km/h and was overtaking a luxury car a few seconds before the collision. Misjudging the distance and not being able to see anything on the left rear, the MUV rammed into the rear left side of the truck-which, ironically-a big vehicle has the most blind spot. The impact was so severe that it tore off the roof of the MUV, instantly killing six of the seven passengers.
Where Did the Accident Take Place?
This disastrous accident took place at ONGC Chowk, one of the city’s challenging junctions, Dehradun. There is still too much preciosity in releasing the specifics of the accident; as of now, all the CCTV cameras at the junction have stopped working due to a ransomware attack a few days back. According to Dehradun Smart City Limited, 134 of the 536 cameras installed in the city are not operational, including ONGC Chowk.
What time did the incident occur?
The group was returning from a house party hosted by Siddhesh Agrawal at his residence. After the party, they took a decision to take a night drive and that led to the fateful accident on Tuesday around 1:30 a.m.
Why did it happen?
Preliminary police investigations have revealed that the major accident was caused by high-speed racing. The MUV was allegedly racing to regain a luxury car which had overtaken it. The driver was at the same time owner of the vehicle and was not in a position to predict the movement of the truck and crashed against it at high speed. The authorities feel that there are many young drivers in the region who are quite casual about traffic rules. The authorities blame that such incidents often occur due to the lackadaisical attitude of young drivers towards traffic rules.
The driver of the container truck had run off right after the collision, though preliminary reports indicate he wasn’t liable for it.
What is the Response by Authorities?
The probe seems to have reached a dead end as the sole survivor, Siddhesh Agrawal, is still unavailable for a statement. The police are consulting lawyers to explore possible steps since, in any case, the car’s owner, who was driving, has lost his life too in the mishap. Besides, no complaints have come from either of the two victims’ families so far, which does not make matters easy for lawyers either.
It is said that the crucial footage goes missing due to the non-functional CCTV cameras, adding to the woes of the probe. An FIR has been filed against an unidentified person and the authorities call for strict enforcement of traffic regulations so that such tragedies do not happen in the future.
It is a grim reminder of the dangers of reckless driving and the desperate need for strict traffic law enforcement. The authorities are still investigating, but it leaves the families of the dead in an unbearable and sudden loss.