Ambulance fails to reach spot, pedestrian hit by bike dies

Bengaluru: A 62-year-old pedestrian, who was hit by a speeding motorbike, died on Friday evening after an ambulance attached to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) failed to reach the spot even after repeated calls by the police.

The deceased, Nagaraj, a resident of Singasandra and a retired employee of New Government Electric Factory (NGEF), was crossing the road to return home from a nearby store when he a speeding motorbike crashed into him around 7.45 pm on Friday.

Keshav, The rider of the motorcycle – Yamaha Fazer bearing the registration number KA-01 HJ-7501, and the man on the pillion, Naveen, too fell on the road and sustained injuries.

Passersby alerted the Electronics City traffic police who rushed to the spot and called the ambulance to shift them to the hospital. Despite repeated calls, the ambulance did not arrive at the spot, but the staff kept assuring the police that they would reach in the next five minutes, the police said.

After waiting for a few minutes, the police rushed the victims in a private vehicle to a nearby hospital, where Nagaraj was declared brought dead. The motorcycle-rider and pillion-rider have been shifted to St. John’s Hospital.

“Our policeman waited for the ambulance over three hours but they misguided us. We had to shift the victim in a private vehicle but it was late by then. The officials kept waiting for the ambulance attached to NHAI to shift the body for the postmortem but the ambulance didn’t turn up even then. We had to wait as 108 Ambulance does not shift dead bodies,” a senior police officer said.

Local residents blamed NHAI for the negligence. “There are many barricades along the highway that are broken. But they have not been fixed. There is no proper skywalk or an underpass forcing the pedestrians to walk on the highway, leading to frequent accidents,” they said.

The Electronics City traffic police are thinking of issuing a notice to NHAI for the lax attitude.

Pedestrian knocked down by speeding cab

A 37-year-old pedestrian was knocked down by a speeding cab near Kadiganahalli Gate in Chikkajala on Friday night. The deceased, Manikanta, was a resident of Chikkajala and working for a private company. Manikanta was crossing the road when the speeding Meru cab, coming from the airport, mowed him down.

Passersby alerted the police and shifted Manikanta to a nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The police seized the cab and arrested driver Ramesh. He was found driving at high speeds which caused in the incident.

Mechanic dies in road accident

A 27-year-old mechanic from Tamil Nadu, who was in the city to distribute his wedding invitation cards, died after he went over a speed-breaker on service road next to Hosa Road near Electronics City on Friday.

Ramesh from Vellore in Tamil Nadu was in the city to distribute wedding cards to his friends. He was shifted to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.