Greater Noida: Van taking them to college overturns, two students succumb a day later

The private Eeco van was ferrying 10 students from Botanical Garden Metro station to the university for their semester examinations. It was allegedly being driven at a speed of more than 100 kmph. Around 12 km from the zero point of Yamuna Expressway, the car lost balance, toppled and crashed into a barricade. The students had to be pulled out by rescuers as the car  had been severely damaged.

Amisha, a final-year student of the three-year medical lab technology course, was on her way to take her final semester examination when the accident took place. She was due to begin her internship at GTB Hospital in the coming days. “I am heartbroken… I cannot process anything. I feel the university has some responsibility to make sure students reach safely,” said Amit Datta, Amisha’s father.

Amisha hailed from Jharkhand, where her father works in the PWD department. She was living in a rented flat in Saket and would often use private vehicles from the Metro station to get to the university.

Amit, a second-year BTech student from Bijnor, was also en-route to give his exam. He lived in Delhi at a rented house.

According to students at the university, over-crowding in private vehicles was a cause of concern and an invitation to disaster. “In most cases, the fault is of the drivers. Students take sharing cabs at a fixed rate. The drivers take up to 8-10 passengers and drive in a rash manner. There must be a proper system to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said Firoz Khan, a student.

When contacted, a university official said, “The incident is unfortunate. The particular cab does not belong to the university. We have a bus system which ferries students from Pari Chowk till campus. We don’t know which private vehicle was hailed by the students. We are cooperating with the families in their hour of need.”