Delhi: Fire tender kills motorcyclist while rushing to rescue drowned man

A man died on Saturday after his motorcycle was hit by a fire brigade van which was en route to rescue a former local BJP leader who drowned in the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi, police said.

The motorcyclist has been identified as Rohit Pal (18), from 5th Pushta, Sonia Vihar. He was rushed to the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, a senior police officer said.

A fire tender was dispatched around 7.20 am after authorities received information that 50-year-old Kuldeep Nainwal, a resident of West Karawal Nagar and a former BJP mandal president, had drowned in the river.

''Kuldeep had gone to the Yamuna river near Thokar No. 7, Burari, along with friends Jaidutt Sharma (50) and Ran Bahadur Yadav (48) for prayers, when he reportedly slipped into deep water,'' a senior police officer said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority and fire department staff were called for a rescue operation.

''While en route to Pushta Road near Chauhan Patti, the fire tender's driver noticed the over speeding motorcyclist approaching from the opposite direction,''the officer said.

In an attempt to avoid a collision, the driver swerved towards the left, causing the vehicle to hit the roadside wall and sustain damage, but the accident could not be averted,'' he added.

The deceased's elder brother told PTI, ''We got to know about the accident around 9 in the morning. The police came home after tracing the address from the vehicle number and told us that our vehicle had been involved in an accident. They called us to the police station, and there we were told that my brother had died.'' He claimed that the accident happened because of a fire department vehicle. ''It was overtaking another vehicle and came from the wrong side. That's how the collision took place. After that, we were called to the hospital, the GTB Hospital, where we saw him for the last time,'' he added.

A case under section 281 (rash and negligent driving and endangering public safety) and 106 (1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Sonia Vihar police station, and further investigation is in progress, he said.

Delhi Fire Service officials said that they got an emergency call of drowning at Chauhan Patti in Sonia Vihar around 7.20 am and the fire tender was going to attend it.

After the vehicle met with the accident while en route to the destination, another fire tender was sent to the Yamuna for the rescue operation.

Kuldeep was eventually pulled from the river and taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said no foul play was suspected in his death and post-mortem is being conducted.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)