Ghaziabad: Five injured in pileups on two expressways caused by dense fog

Police the first 30-car pile-up happened around 7.30am near the Hawa Hawai restaurant on the Delhi_Meerut Expressway. The second pile-up of 25 cars happened a little later on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Muradnagar

At least five people were injured after dense fog caused two major pile-ups, involving around 50 vehicles, on the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) stretches in Ghaziabad on Wednesday morning. All five injured are stable, and no fatalities were reported, said police.

In the first incident on the DME (above), about 25-30 cars crashed into each other. Three persons who suffered severe injuries were rushed to the hospital, police said. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police said the first pile-up happened around 7.30am about 2km near the Hawa Hawai restaurant on the Meerut-Ghaziabad carriageway of the DME.

The second pile-up happened a little later on the Baghpat-Duhai carriageway of the EPE near Muradnagar.

“In the first incident on the DME, about 25-30 cars crashed into each other. Three persons who suffered severe injuries were rushed to the hospital. The second incident on the EPE involved about 20-25 vehicles. Two of the injured in that pile-up were rushed to the hospital. No fatality was reported in either incident. The pileups happened due to dense fog and low visibility conditions on the expressways,” said Surendra Nath Tiwary, deputy commissioner of police, rural.

The damaged vehicles were lined up on one side of the expressways, and police later towed them away.

Passengers travelling on the DME said the cars and other vehicles were trailing behind one another on the expressway amid the dense fog.

Mohammad Naeem, a passenger in a Celerio car from Roorkee to Delhi , said his car was one of the first ones to take a hit from other vehicles.

“We were in the front when we spotted a stationary roadways bus in front of us, and applied the brakes. An Alto car crashed into our vehicle from behind while two cars crashed into us from the side as well. Soon, there was a pile-up behind us. My sister and I were headed to Jamia Millia Islamia for an examination interview, but we missed it. My sister suffered injury to her back, and a doctor arrived at the spot and gave her initial treatment in the car. My car got damaged, and also suffered a tyre burst,” Naeem, a resident of Roorkee, said.

Likewise, Waseem Ahmad was headed to Delhi from Najibabad, and his car was fourth to sustain a hit on the DME.

“The fog was dense we encountered at the incident site. We were following the Alto car. Suddenly, the Alto car stopped, and others following it started crashing into one another. About 30-35 cars ended up in a pile-up. When we asked the car drivers in front, they told us that they spotted a stationary bus and applied the brakes to avoid a hit. This led to the pile-up,” Ahmad said.

Sudhanshu Chaudhary, a resident of Ghaziabad, said that one of his colleagues was admitted to a hospital.

“My Datsun car was rammed by a bus in the pile-up. My five colleagues and I were returning from Haridwar after a holy dip. Our car took a hit from a roadways bus around 7.30am. Several of us suffered minor injuries, but one suffered a severe head injury and was admitted to the hospital,” Chaudhary said.

The officials said traffic was disrupted on the expressways and police intervened to clear up the mess.

“The pile-ups happened due to dense fog and low visibility and none of them was speeding. That alone prevented major injuries and casualties. Traffic flow was restored after the damaged vehicles were moved out of the expressways,” DCP Tiwary said.