Ferozepore, March 27
Eleven persons of a family were killed and a child was injured seriously when a Toyota Qualis in which they were travelling rammed into a truck near Kot Karor village, about 25 km from here, at about 6 a.m. today.
According to the SP (H), Mr Rajinder Singh, the collision was so strong that the entire front portion of the vehicle got stuck beneath the truck. The police had a tough time in extracting the bodies. Policemen had to use a mini Canter to pull out the Qualis from underneath the truck.
The deceased, except one, belonged to the family of Major Singh, an ex-serviceman hailing from Dhimawali village near Kotkapura town of Faridkot. They were on their way to Raja Sansi Airport, Amritsar, to see off Kulwinder Kaur, daughter of Major Singh, who was to take a flight to Britain today evening. Kulwinder Kaur’s husband, Sukhpal Singh resides there. Her son, Gagandeep Singh, is the only one to have survived the accident. He has been rushed to Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, and his condition is still critical.
The deceased include Major Singh, Nasib Kaur, Maninder Singh and Gurpreet Singh (grandsons), Mannu and Nippe (granddaughters), Jaswinder Kaur and Kulwinder Kaur (daughters), Sewak Singh (son-in-law), a couple of his other relatives, and the driver of the
Qualis vehicle, Avtar Singh.
According to police sources, family members started off at around 5.15 am from Dhimawali village. At around 6 am when they reached near Kot Karor village, about 500 m from Talwandi Bhai Chowk on the G T Road, the driver of the vehicle fell asleep. As a result the vehicle went out of his control and rammed into the truck parked along the roadside.
A police team led by the SP (H), Mr Rajinder Singh, reached the spot immediately and carried out the rescue work. It took a lot of time and effort to extract the bodies from the vehicle. Some of the bodies had been charred beyond recognition. The injured, Gagandeep Singh, was immediately rushed to the DMC, Ludhiana in a critical condition.
The bodies were sent to Civil Hospital, Faridkot, for the postmortem examination.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic road accident.
