NEW DELHI: Those who stood around, in their cars, impatiently in traffic, passing by, walking, waiting, amid a sea of people, all turn into witnesses. A portion of the Gokulpuri metro station comes crashing down on the road underneath, over five people. There lives irrevokably scared by the tragedy, witnesses recall unfortunate episodes from the incident.
Ashutosh Sharma, a passerby returning home after visiting a doctor with his son on a motorcycle, said he was horrified to see the huge cement boulders collapsing suddenly.
“I was crossing the road when I saw the cement falling from above. I picked up my son and ran from the scene. I went to the police station where I asked my son to wait while I went back to collapsed metro station to extend help to the injured people,” Sharma said.
Cab driver, Dilshan Khan, was waiting near the metro station. He says that a major tragedy has been averted as the same area remains flooded with school children only two hours after the incident happened.
“The Government Boys Senior Secondary School is hardly 50 metres from where the accident took place. Had the incident occurred around 1.30 pm, it could have been much, much more disastrous as many students gather underneath the metro station, sharing tea and snacks after school,” he said.
A shopkeeper near the metro station said he heard a loud thud around 11 am which prompted him to rush out of his shop and see what had happened. “When I reached, boulders were still falling. When it stopped, we helped the injured. One of them had sustained serious injuries over his head and legs,” he said.
DCP (northeast) Joy Tirkey said one of the injured, Vinod Kumar Pandey sustained grievous injuries on his head and succumbed at GTB hospital.
“His family lives in Sultanpur, UP. He lived in Karawal Nagar in Delhi alone,” the DCP said. The deceased Pandey, who worked as a delivery person, was passing under the fated Gokulpuri Metro Station when the incident took place.
Following the incident, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot directed DMRC to form an expert committee to investigate the matter and file a report in 2 weeks, provide ex-gratia compensation within 24 hours and extend full support to the injured and their families for medical treatment.