PU student hit by crane dies

Hameed Ashraf| NT

Bengaluru: In a grim pointer to the haphazard movement of heavy vehicles connected with the construction industry in the city, a Pre-University(PU) student died on the spot after she was mowed down by a crane in Whitefield traffic police station limits here.

The incident, had actually happened on November 2 near Kannamangala Village when the student, identified as Noor Fiza, 19, was returning home after finishing her classes. A crane coming from behind the student, allegedly hit her and ran over her. In a video clip of the incident, the driver of the crane can be seen driving in an allegedly reckless manner and mowing down the student.

By the time the jurisdictional traffic police reached the spot, the driver, identified as Periyaswamy, had absconded. The cops have taken up a case against him and have launched a probe to nab him. It was revealed that the area where the incident took place comes under a panchayat which allegedly turned a deaf ear to the pleas of residents to provide basic facilities such as walkways and footpaths for pedestrians.

Due to lack of infrastructure, the pedestrians have to walk on the road putting their lives at risk. Shashi, an employee of a private firm lives close to the area where the accident occurred a few metres away from Jain Heritage School. Due to continuous construction activities, the road is frequented by heavy vehicles such as trucks carrying construction material, he said.

"There are school kids trying to cross the road unmindful of speeding vehicles. A few months ago, people had built a speedbreaker at their own expense, to alert and at least slow down the vehicles near the school premises. However the speed-breaker was removed by the civic officials recently. Had it still been on the road, the incident could have been avoided," he said.