A 12-year-old girl died after she was knocked off her uncle’s scooter and was run over by a tanker lorry on Thursday.
According to news reports, the incident happened on Thursday morning when Jino Alex was taking his daughter and his niece Jemima Achu Mathew to their school near Chetpet. He was riding on the New Avadi road when a metro water tanker lorry started honking continuously from behind. Annoyed by it, Jino gave signal to the lorry to overtake him, but the tanker hit Jino’s bike from behind.
Losing balance of the vehicle, Jino and his daughter fell to the left while Jemima fell from the bike to the right side and came under the wheels of the moving tanker lorry and died on the spot. The lorry driver had to stop the vehicle since he could not move due to the peak hour traffic on the road. The passers-by, who witnessed the accident, immediately alerted the police who then arrived at the spot. Jemima was rushed to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital but was declared brought dead by the doctors there. Jino Alex and his daughter suffered minor injuries.
“Jino Alex had just then entered the New Avadi Road from the side road and on seeking the lorry approaching fast and honking, he moved to corner of the road when a bumper in front of the lorry hit the motorbike pushing all three on the road,” a police officer who was at the spot told the New Indian Express. Another police officer added that since heavy vehicles are not allowed to ply within the city limits after 8am, the lorry driver was speeding to reach his destination.
The police registered an FIR and arrested the driver of the metro water lorry, Govindarajan, a resident of Arakkonam.
Jemima lived with her mother and uncle in Kilpauk. Her father manages their farm in Tiruvalla, Kerala. Jino Alex used to drop Jemima and his daughter off at their school every day.
Source: The News Minute