On-duty fire tender rams bike, kills youth

Police said that a fire was reported at the Horizon Hotel at near Juhu and the driver of the fire tender was trying to make his way through the wrong side of the street which he took to avoid the traffic on the other side.

According to the D N Nagar police, where the case is registered, Kailash, who hails from Rajasthan, had been working as a domestic cook and stayed in a slum at Kapaswadi with his brother Shankar 23 and a few other youths from their village. 8220;Kailash was on his way towards Vile Parle on the Andheri Link Road on his bike when a fire engine coming in from the other direction rammed into him. Kailash fell from his bike right in the way of the vehicle, which ran over him, killing him instantly,8221; said ACP Dilip Suryavanshi from the DN Nagar division.

The body has been sent to the Cooper Hospital for post-mortem.

The victim8217;s brother Shankar, who had come to the police station, said, 8220;We are four brothers, and our father does not work anymore. I have not yet informed my family members in Rajasthan about Kailash8217;s death. But I will be taking his body to our village as soon as it is released.8221;nbsp;

The vehicle8217;s driver, Vijay Azarekar 50, has been arrested by the police. 8220;It is quite clear that the driver was driving negligently as he was going on the wrong side of the street. Though there was a fire emergency at the hotel, the driver should have had taken precautions,8221; said Suryavanshi.

When contacted, Chief Fire Officer Ajit Sawant said, 8220;It is an unfortunate incident. The driver should have taken precautions. There have been cases like this before, when there is traffic and firemen cannot find way to reach the fire accident site. So they take it from the wrong side or lane. But our firemen and fire engines have also met with accidentsiquest; and some even died under private vehicles.8221;