Seemapuri truck victim's family donates his eyes

Seemapuri truck victim's family donates his eyes
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New Delhi: Family of Chhote Khan, who was mowed down by a speeding truck early Wednesday near Seemapuri depot, has decided to donate his eyes.

Mumtiyaz Khan, the elder brother of 25-year-old Chhote Khan, said he was informed about the incident by a friend over the phone.

"Last night, I asked Chhote to sleep inside the house, but he chose to sleep outside," he said.

"I live at another place in a nearby area. I was asleep when I got a call from one of my friends who informed me about the incident. I went to the spot and found bodies of the people on road.

"We were six brothers and two sisters. Chhote was the second from the last. We have decided to donate his eyes so that a needy person can see the world though my brother's eyes. We have not been approached by anybody as of now. We will donate his eyes to hospital, Mumtiyaz said.

Chhote was married and had a daughter. However, he got separated from his wife, Mumtiyaz said.

Family members of Kareem, 52, and Shah Alam, 38, -- who too were killed by the truck -- said that they used to sleep in the premises of public toilet, but as the atmosphere there was hot, they had gone out to sleep on the divider.

Kareem's son-in-law Sheikh Habibul said that he got to know something fateful had happened when he saw a crowd gathering about the divider.

"We were sleeping when the incident happened. There was a gathering near the spot and we heard a commotion. When we went outside, we saw that the body my father-in-law Kareem was lying on road along with others and his brain was out of his skull.

"It was a horrifying sight for us. He was declared dead at the spot," said Habibul.

"He usually slept inside the public toilet, but due to hot weather, he had gone out to sleep with others, he said.

Hafiza Bibi, Alam's wife, said that his husband was the sole breadwinner for their family of five.

"He was sleeping outside due to hot weather. He used to collect scrap and was the sole breadwinner of the family. I have four daughters and one of them is married, Bibi said.'

Habibul said that the eyewitness told him that the truck, after it ran over the people, lost its balance, but the driver managed to bring it back under control and speed away.

Four people sleeping on a road divider were killed and two others injured in the early hours of Wednesday after they were run over by a speeding truck in northeast Delhi's Seemapuri area.

The driver was driving rashly and negligently, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram had said earlier in the day.

The four dead were identified as Kareem (52), Chotte Khan (25), Shah Alam (38), all residents of New Seemapuri, and Rahul (45), a resident of Shalimar Garden in Uttar Pradesh's Sahibabad, police said.

Rahul's elder brother Anil Kumar said that a police person had come to their house in the morning and asked them to identify the body.

"I am a driver and had come home around 4 am. Rahul had gone out with his friend last night and was sleeping on the divider," Kumar said.

"Later, I was out again for my work, when I got a call around 11 am from my daughter. She said that a policeman had come home and told them that Rahul had been mowed down by a truck.

"I immediately reached the GTB hospital and identified his body. Rahul used to work as a mason and was the youngest among three siblings," he said.

According to police, two people died on the spot and four were rushed to GTB Hospital.

Out of the four injured, one was declared brought dead and another died during treatment, the DCP said.