Father, son killed as truck rams auto rickshaw on NH48 near Virar

The impact of the hit was such that the rickshaw was crushed, leaving the father and son critically injured. They were rushed to Galaxy Hospital, where they were declared dead before treatment could begin, the police said

Mumbai: A 52-year-old man and his 22-year-old son from Pelhar were killed on Sunday morning after a speeding truck allegedly hit their autorickshaw while they were exiting a service road on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway (NH 48) near Virar.

The accident occurred at 9.30 am near the Pelhar petrol pump on NH48.

According to the police, the accident occurred at 9.30 am near the Pelhar petrol pump, when Shehzad Ghulam Usmani and his son Atif Shehzad Usmani, residents of Pelhar village, were on their way to work in Mumbai in their rickshaw when a speeding truck, travelling from Gujarat towards Mumbai, rammed into the rickshaw and a motorcycle while attempting to overtake another vehicle.

On being alerted by some passersby, the police arrived at the scene, rushed the father-son duo to a nearby hospital and also arrested the truck driver. “The impact of the hit was such that the rickshaw was crushed, leaving the father and son critically injured. They were rushed to Galaxy Hospital, where they were declared dead before treatment could begin,” said a police officer.

The police said that the truck driver, who allegedly failed to notice the rickshaw exiting the service road, has been arrested. The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras.

The residents claimed the stretch is accident-prone as it lacks proper signboards warning drivers of merging service roads, leading to frequent mishaps.