Dwarka Expressway Crash Kills 3 Workers

GURUGRAM: Three road workers died and a fourth was left with grievous injuries after a car allegedly driven by a 20-year-old Delhi University student ploughed into a night-time work party installing railing on the Dwarka Expressway median near Ram Chowk early on Thursday, police said.

The crash was reported around 1.50 am to 2.30 am on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, when labourers were fixing an iron fence on the divider of a surface stretch of the expressway. According to the first information report registered at Bajghera police station, a white Chevrolet Beat bearing Delhi registration DL7CT-3165 allegedly came from the Delhi side at high speed, smashed into barricades and trestles placed for site safety, struck the men on the median, hit a Mahindra vehicle parked ahead and climbed onto the road divider before stopping.

The workers who died were identified as Bijendra Singh, about 60, Omprakash, about 58, and Satish Chand, about 45, all from Sarvanna village in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Police said they were declared dead after being taken for treatment. Ram Kumar, about 28, also from the same village, suffered grievous injuries and was admitted to a private hospital for further care. The alleged driver, named in the FIR as Vedant Khanna, a second-year Economics Honours student of St Stephen's College, was also critically injured and shifted for treatment.

Jitendra Kumar, Satish Chand's brother and a worker at the site, lodged the complaint. He told investigators that Satish had taken the railing-installation contract under SD Constructions from Jupiter International Infra Company and L&T for work along the expressway median. The men were on the job when the car crashed into them, the complaint states.

Gurugram police public relations officer Sandeep Turan said an FIR had been registered against Khanna under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections covering causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety, causing death by negligence, rash driving, and mischief causing damage of Rs 1 lakh or more. Blood samples were taken for examination. Turan said only further investigation would clarify whether the driver was under the influence of alcohol, as he remains under treatment and in a critical condition.

Passers-by alerted police after the impact. Teams reached the spot, secured the scene and arranged hospital transfers. The sequence reconstructed so far points to a high-speed approach into an active work zone where temporary safety arrangements had been placed on the carriageway and median. Investigators are examining vehicle damage, the placement of barricades, lighting at the site and whether speed or lane discipline contributed to the collision.

Night-time median work on Dwarka Expressway has repeatedly drawn concern from labour unions and traffic planners because crews often operate with limited buffer from fast-moving traffic. The expressway corridor carries heavy late-night and early-morning volumes between Delhi and Gurugram's western sectors. Officials said the inquiry will also look at whether advance warning boards, reflective gear and adequate taper lengths were in place when the car approached.

Families of the deceased have begun funeral arrangements in Bulandshahr. Police said further statements from surviving workers and contract supervisors are being recorded. The medical condition of both the grievously injured worker and the alleged driver is being monitored. Charges and any additional sections will depend on forensic reports, toxicology results and a full accident reconstruction.

Commuters using the Dwarka Expressway near Ram Chowk and Bajghera should expect intermittent slowdowns if police or civic teams return for measurements. Authorities have urged drivers to reduce speed near active construction zones, keep clear of median work parties and follow temporary lane markings, especially after midnight when visibility drops and fatigue rises.