Six die as taxi rams divider on Eastern Freeway

Six persons, including two children, were killed when the Santro taxi they were travelling in hit a road divider on the Eastern Freeway near Dongri on Saturday morning. The taxi, carrying nine members of a family, was headed to Mumbadevi temple in south Mumbai. The police has registered a case against taxi driver Mangru Verma (35) for causing death due to negligence.

According to the police, the incident happened as Mangru lost control over the vehicle which first rammed into a divider and then collided with a pole. The police, however, refused to comment on the possibility of Mangru driving under the influence of alcohol, saying that the medical report will confirm it. The deceased were identified as Harkesh Verma (45), Rajshri Verma (35), Anara Verma (35), Ragini Verma (20), Asha Verma (12) and Rajkumar Verma (8).

Harkesh, his wife Rajshri and three children — Ragini, Ravi (14) and Vinay (21), who reside in Surat, had come to Mumbai to stay with Mangru, Harkesh's brother-in-law, for Diwali vacation. Mangru stays at a chawl in Antop Hill with his wife Anara and children Rajkumar and Asha. He is currently recuperating in J.J. Hospital along with Vinay and Ravi. According to the police, the condition of all the three is stable.

Recalling that Harkesh had cautioned him from squeezing nine persons into one taxi, Mangru, lying at his hospital bed, said, “Harkesh had suggested that we should take two taxis.

However, I told him that there wouldn’t be much traffic on Saturday morning. I have been driving taxi in the city for 17-18 years now and I never over-speed or violate traffic rules. I can't remember how the accident happened. All I can remember is waking up in the hospital bed.”

Police informed that this year, 19,981 accidents took place (minor and major) in the city. After the Freeway accident, the special cell, addressed as crash analysis cell, will investigate how the accident happened. Four speed detector cameras have been installed recently on the freeway. These cameras can help officers identify speeding vehicles at the time of incident.

A traffic official on the condition of anonymity said, “These cameras have been placed on the North bound traffic that is why the accident was not recorded. The only camera that placed on the freeway is 100 metres away from the spot of the accident.”

A police official said, “We have no footage of the incident as the nearest CCTV camera is located 100 metres away from the accident spot. Hence no visual could be captured. Beginning November 15, we will install 12 cameras around the spot. The Freeway has four-speed detector cameras and eight CCTV cameras.”