Speeding garbage tipper runs over 14-year-old girl at Hebbal

A 14-year-old girl died on the spot when a garbage tipper ran her over while crossing the road at the busy Airport Road at the Hebbal bus stand.

Akshaya, a class 9 student at Stella Maris School in Sadashivanagar limits, was forced to cross the road with four others over the median since the pedestrian subway was flooded due to rain that pounded the city on Sunday evening.

“An overspeeding BBMP garbage tipper knocked her down and she died on the spot. Two others were also injured in the chain of accidents as the tipper rammed into a two-wheeler and a car,” explained an eye-witness at the Hebbal police station.

DCP (Traffic) North S Savidha, who visited the spot, said: “The girls were crossing the road from the Seeds Corporation side to the Hebbal police station around 12.50 pm. Police personnel had flagged the BBMP officials about the waterlogged subway at 9 am and asked them to clear the water.”

However, the BBMP personnel arrived at the spot only after the accident and cleared the water. The DCP explained that they will soon submit a detailed report to the control room.

The group of five children included Akshaya’s younger sister as well as Soumya, 28, who suffered minor injuries in the accident. Vikas, 42, who was riding the moped suffered a fracture in the leg. “Soumya had a minor swelling and was given first aid and left the hospital, whereas Vikas was shifted to Manipal Hospitals (Hebbal) for further treatment,” said a source at a private hospital where the injured were first taken.

Manjunath, 35, who drove the tipper, has been arrested and a case has been registered against him for negligent driving and overspeeding at the
RT Nagar traffic police station.

BBMP chief: Don’t take risks while crossing roads

BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, who visited the spot along with BBMP Administrator Rakesh Singh, said: “We should ensure such an accident never happens again.”

“The public shouldn’t risk their lives,” he said. “Though crossing the road on a skywalk or a subway takes more time, they should opt for it,” Gupta said.

“In this particular incident, I don’t want to discuss who is at fault. Police will decide that based on their investigation,” Gupta added, pointing out that the subway is in a usable condition. “I inspected it. It is not dark or in an unusable state. Pedestrians are using it even now.”

Sources said officials had instructed engineers to raise the median’s height on the particular stretch of the road.

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