Gurgaon: A helper sleeping inside a truck was charred to death after two heavy vehicles collided and one of them caught fire near Bilaspur around 1.30am on Friday. The deceased was identified as Yogesh (25), a resident of Kotputli in Rajasthan.Another helper suffered burns, while the driver of the truck that caught fire injured his knees after jumping out moments before it was engulfed in flames, police said.According to an officer privy to the investigation, the accident involved two trucks, one carrying tiles and the other around 100 quintals of zero-size stone aggregate (rodi), used in construction work. “The truck which caught fire was coming from Dharuhera and was negotiating a slope near the newly constructed flyover at Rathiwas when the accident took place,” the officer said.The officer said the driver of the tile truck, which was ahead, suddenly applied the brakes. The truck behind it could not stop in time and rammed into it. Realising that his vehicle would not stop, the rear truck’s driver jumped out. The collision also caused an electrical short circuit, triggering a fire.“There were two helpers in the truck carrying stone aggregate. One was awake at the time of the collision and managed to jump out, but suffered burns on both legs, hands and part of his stomach. The other helper was asleep inside the vehicle and got trapped as the fire spread. He died in the blaze,” the officer stated.The injured helper was rescued and taken to hospital for treatment. The officer said he had been on patrol in the area and had passed the spot shortly before the accident. “I received information about the collision and fire from a petrol pump nearby and rushed back to the location,” he said.Two fire tenders were called to the spot. “Firefighters took around 20 minutes to reach the location and struggled to bring the flames under control,” another police officer said.Police have registered a case against the driver of the truck carrying tiles under sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (death by negligence) of BNS at Bilaspur police station, based on a complaint by the deceased’s relative Vikas, a resident of Alwar. The driver and other occupants of the vehicle allegedly fled the spot.
