LUCKNOW: A woman and her daughter were killed while their driver was injured after a billboard fell on their car outside the Atala Bihari Vajpayee (Ekana) Stadium, during a strong storm here on Monday.
The accident took place in a posh locality under the Sushant Golf City police station area in the evening, said the police sources.
Both the woman and her daughter were declared dead upon arrival by the doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences.
According to Gosaiganj Assistant Commissioner of Police Amit Kumawat, the victims were identified as Preeti Jaggi (38) and her daughter Angel (15). They were residents of the Indira Nagar colony in the Ghazipur police station area. While Preeti, a single parent, was a software developer and her daughter Angel was a class 8th student.
The victims were headed to a mall in the area with their driver Sartaj (28) when the accident happened, SHO (Sushant Golf City) Atul Kumar Srivastava said. The SHO said that the driver had been admitted to hospital in critical condition. Further legal proceedings in the case were on, he added.
The billboard, in front of the stadium's gate number two, came down crashing down due to the storm and fell on their SUV, leading to the fatal accident.
In a video that surfaced on social media, cranes could be seen deployed to remove the fallen billboard as the SUV remained under the debris. A trapped under the wreckage of a fallen billboard can be seen pleading for help.
According to initial reports, the police were present at the scene, and all passengers were promptly taken to the hospital. An SDRF team also arrived at the sight of the accident to extract the bodies from underneath the debris.
The hoarding was likely related to the recent IPL matches held at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Sources claimed that a solitary pole had been bearing too many sign boards and a soft whiff of breeze brought it down, leading to the deaths of the mother-daughter duo.
"The billboard was being managed by Orangis Advertisings and the responsibility of its upkeep also lied with the same advertising firm," said Uday Sinha, Managing Director, Ekana Sportz City.