At least five persons died and more than 10 people sustained injuries when a speeding parcel van hit several people on Delhi Road in Meerut on Wednesday midnight.
The parcel van hit a rickshawpuller, some cyclists, and two-wheeler riders one after the other, leaving five of them dead. Enraged by this, eyewitnesses caught hold of the driver and handed him over to the police after thrashing him.
According to the police, the driver of the parcel van first hit a cyclist near Mohkampur. This perhaps scared the driver who then increased the speed of the vehicle in his bid to flee, but ended up hitting a scooter near Shoprix Mall. The running van then hit a meat-laden pick-up van near Delhi Chungi, and it overturned as a result, littering raw meat all over the road.
The speeding parcel van then went on to hit some autorickshaws at the Bagpat road crossing before it hit the road divider and stopped. At least half a dozen rickshaw pullers and other people on the road were hit in the process. Eyewitnesses rushed there to help the victims and managed to rescue some.
SP (City) Ranvijay Singh soon arrived at the spot along with force, after which the injured were immediately rushed to hospitals and the bodies were sent for post-mortem.
One of the deceased was identified as Arun Kumar of Madhavpuram locality.