Two killed as van overturns, goes up in flames on Delhi-Meerut Expressway

A man and a woman died and four people were injured when a van overturned and caught fire on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway near Masuri on Wednesday, police said, adding that according to their preliminary investigation, the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid ramming a scooty.

According to the police, the incident took place near Noorpur under the jurisdiction of the Masuri police station in Ghaziabad. “There were six people travelling in the van, which was headed towards Delhi. They were scheduled to take a train to Nagpur. Prima facie, it appears that the driver tried to avoid ramming a scooty and lost control of the vehicle. It skidded and overturned, and its CNG cylinder caught fire. Two of the passengers were charred to death and three others were severely injured. The sixth person survived with minor injuries,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (SP rural).

“When the accident took place, local commuters rushed to help. In the meantime, the highway patrol and police vans arrived and doused the fire with the help of the fire department. Three of the severely injured persons were admitted to a private hospital where they are stated to be stable,” he said.