Driver killed as truck catches fire in Delhi

A driver was charred to death when a truck carrying clothes caught fire at southwest Delhi's Brar Square area in the wee hours today, the police said.

It is suspected that the driver got stuck inside the vehicle that hit a divider, toppled and went up in flames, a senior police officer said.

The incident occurred at around 3 AM. The driver was identified as Ikbal (41) who was on his way from Naraina to Dhaula Kuan when the accident occurred.

When the police team reached the spot, they saw the truck up in flames. The fire department was informed and three fire tenders rushed to the spot to douse the blaze.
 

"It took the fire fighters half an hour to douse the flames. When the truck was inspected, the driver was found lying on his seat. He was rushed to the hospital and declared brought dead," a police officer said.

"It appears that he was speeding. The moment he took a u-turn from the road leading to Dhaula Kuan, he lost control over the vehicle. The truck skid and hit the divider before it turned turtle and caught fire," the officer said.

Police said that they had found the broken number plate lying alongside the overturned truck.

"The truck's number plate was also burnt but the Haryana registration number was faintly visible. We contacted the authority and traced the owner soon which helped us identify the driver. The investigation is on," he said.

Traffic movement between Naraina to Dhaula Kuan was affected till noon due to cleaning works taken up on the site of accident.