Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 17: The driver and helper of a potatoes-loaded truck were killed on the spot when it rammed into an ATM booth in Chhani Himmat area on city outskirts last night.
According to a police spokesperson, a truck loaded with potatoes and bearing registration number PB02BM-9650 during the intervening night of July 16 and 17 crashed into an ATM booth of Jammu and Kashmir Bank at Sector 3, Channi Himmat, due to suspected brake failure.
He said some passersby informed the police after which a police team from police station Chhani Himmat rushed to the spot. They also called SDRF and Advance Rescue Team (ART) of Fire Control Room Gandhi Nagar, Jammu and started rescue operation jointly.
The accident was so serious that truck driver and his helper died on the spot and their dead bodies were recovered after hectic efforts by using modern firefighting equipment like Hydraulic Spreader while the security guard of the ATM booth was rescued and shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu in an injured condition.
The deceased truck driver, who was also the owner of the truck, was identified as Harjinder Singh son of Naranjan Singh, resident of Gurdaspur, while the helper was yet to be identified. After postmortem at GMCH Jammu, the body of driver was handed over to his legal heirs for last rites while body of helper was shifted to mortuary room of the Hospital for identification/postmortem.
According to SHO, police station Chhani Himmat, Mohd Showket, the accident occurred at T-Chowk near Railway track at about 11.40 PM last night. He said the vehicle had to go to Narwal Mandi but it went in Sector 3 of Chhani Himmat, mistakenly where due to alleged brake failure, the truck rammed into the ATM booth.
He said that graveness of the mishap can be gauzed from the fact that the truck even broke the lantern and back side of the shop housing the ATM.
Meanwhile, VK Singh, DG, Fire and Emergency Services, J&K has rewarded the Fire Team of Gandhi Nagar Jammu for the prompt rescue effort.
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