Nine people were killed and more than 10 injured, some of them seriously, after an SUV ran over a crowd gathered at an accident spot on the ISKCON flyover in Ahmedabad in the wee hours of Thursday.
The injured have been moved to Sola Civil Hospital and another private hospital in the city. The driver of the speeding white Jaguar, identified as Tathya Patel, was also hospitalised as sources revealed that furious onlookers assaulted the driver after the crash.
According to police, the victims were at the site of another accident on the flyover that involved a Thar rear-ending a truck. Among the dead are a police constable and a home guard.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the deceased and a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the injured. Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi, Gujarat BJP president C.R. Patil and Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil are among several leaders who have expressed grief over this tragic accident.
According to preliminary reports, the Jaguar was speeding over 120 km per hour. A complaint has been registered against the driver.
FSL and RTO teams have reached the spot and the ISCKON flyover has been temporarily closed for vehicular traffic. The Jaguar is not registered in the driver’s name.
The ISCKON flyover is on The Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway which is a key road that connects Ahmedabad with the state capital, Gandhinagar.
There is a speed limit of 70 km per hour on the highway and the police have also installed speed guns. Those exceeding the speed limit are fined Rs 2,000 for the first time and Rs 4,000 for the next violation. The license is then suspended.
However, the highway has seen vehicles speeding over 80 km per hour on several occasions and reported several accidents in the past. On Thursday morning another accident took place involving four vehicles ramming into each other. No casualties were reported in the crash.